Pink and Green
by Mimi Blossoms Aeris 15
Summary: A Matt & Mimi romance. Tai and Matt have a dare. What can Matt do? Remember this is Mimato. [COMPLETE]
1. Default Chapter Title

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Pink and Green

By [Mimi Blossoms][1] (aka [Aeris_15][2])

PART ONE:

**_AUTHOR'S NOTE:_** This is my first Digimon fan-fic. Obviously, my favorite character is Matt. I think he and Mimi just look perfect together. But they don't really show interest on each other on the show. So I wrote this story to show some 'possibilities' that might improve their relationship on one another. Anyway, the story takes place years after their mission on the digital world. This story is based on Matt's high school life. Matt is the main character, of course, as this story focuses more on him. Anyway, please read my very 'first' Digimon fan-fic and let me know what you think! Hope you enjoy this one! I dedicate this to all Matt and Mimi fans out there!

Sixteen-year-old Matt Ishida opened up his Math textbook. It was already eleven o'clock in the evening and he was just starting his homework. High school was a pain. He tried to concentrate on his Math problems but somehow he found it rather hard to concentrate. Matt sighed and threw his textbook on the floor.

"This is nuts! I can't work at a time like this!" Matt complained. Ever since he started high school, he was beginning to get lazier with his schoolwork. _Maybe I should ask Izzy or Joe for help, _he thought to himself pitifully.

He took out something out of his pocket and found his digivice. He examined the device carefully as he remembered his mission years ago as a digi-destined. It had been a fun experience for him. And for the others too. He squeezed his digivice tightly with his hand. He remembered his digimon friend, Gabumon, who was always there to protect him. Gabumon had always been there with him whenever he needed him. Either with good times or bad times—Gabumon was there.

Matt then discovered another device from his drawer. It was his crest. The crest of friendship. It had been a while since the last time he held his crest again. _Hmm... I wonder what's going on in the Digi-world._ He thought about Gabumon. He sure missed him.

And it wasn't only Gabumon that he missed. He missed his friends too: Tai, Sora, Izzy, Mimi, Joe, and Kari. TK lived with him now. His parents got back together.

He missed being in the digi-world. Forget this boring life. Matt wanted to go back and do something in the digi-world. Just like old times.

__

Oh well, Matt thought as he yawned and lied down on his bed. It was late. He turned off the lights and went to bed.

* * *

Matt yawned for the fifth time as he got on his school bus early the next morning. He sat at the very back; his eyes still looked groggy. He didn't even notice that a girl was looking at him, her eyebrows raising as he studied him.

Matt leaned on his seat and closed his eyes. He was off to school again. Man, he hated it. He hated his typical life. It was too boring for his taste. He scratched his spiky blonde hair and looked out the window. He was still far from his school. He yawned as he watched the boring scenarios. It was the same view that he sees every single day. He hated it. He hated its sight. He hated waiting for something he didn't want to go to. School.

"Yo Matt! Wait up!" Matt heard a voice calling out behind him as he was walking to the school. He turned around and found Joe.

"Oh hi Joe," Matt replied.

Joe panted as he stopped in front of him.

"Hey, what's the big hurry?" Matt asked him.

Joe shook his head. "Nothing... I was afraid I was gonna be late for school. I missed my bus, so I had to run all the way to school from my house."

"Oh," was Matt's only reply.

Joe chuckled. "Oh well! At least I made it! Although I'm having a hard time catching my breath..."

They both laughed at what he said.

"Oh well! I gotta go or I'm gonna miss my class!" Joe ran towards the building with Matt watching him with a smile. _He's all grown up... I wonder how everyone else is doing..._

* * *

During lunchtime, Matt sat under a shaded tree and played his harmonica. He just finished eating and he got at least half an hour left before the bell rings for his next class again. He thought about the first time he learned how to play his harmonica. It had been a fun lesson from him.

He stopped playing and put his harmonica back in his pocket. Matt started walking back inside the building. He walked in the hallway all by himself in a deep thought. He was still lost in thought when he suddenly bumped into someone. He fell on his bum and saw the girl's books flying all over, and watched it landing on the floor.

"Ow! That hurt!" a high-pitched feminine voice cried. Somehow the voice seemed rather familiar. It was a voice that he had never heard of for such a long time.

Matt looked up to see the girl. She was wearing a huge pink hat. Where had he seen that hat before? But he couldn't see her face for she was looking down on the ground, eyeing her leg. He frowned for a second, thinking who she was. He knew there was something familiar about her. _Tachikawa...?_

"My legs hurt!" the girl cried out. She finally revealed her reddened face. Matt's breathing suddenly stopped. Mimi Tachikawa.

"Mimi!" Matt exclaimed, looking at her carefully. He stood up quickly. "Are you okay?"

Mimi blushed and scowled at Matt. "Matt! If I had known it was you! My legs hurt!"

Matt scratched his head and rolled his eyes. "I'm sorry... okay?" he offered her his hand. Mimi took his hand and Matt helped her up. Mimi stood up and cleaned up her skirt. Matt smiled. "At least you're okay, right?"

Mimi began picking up her books that she had dropped when she had bumped into Matt. Matt bent down as well and helped her picked up her books.

"I didn't know you carry this many books with you, Mimi," Matt joked.

"Shut up, Matt," Mimi replied. "For your information, I've been studying really hard to become a botanist."

Matt looked like he was about to laugh. "B-botanist?!" he stammered with surprised.

Mimi scowled at her. "What?! Is there something wrong with that? I happen to like plants!"

They both rose to their feet when they were done picking up Mimi's books. "But I thought you wanted to be a singer..." he pointed out.

"Nah... that was just my childhood dream," Mimi replied with a wink. "And now that I know for sure what I really want, I've decided I should make a living with Science."

Mimi then closed her eyes as if she were daydreaming. "Science. Science... Biology... It's my future."

__

Just what in the world did she eat today? She's acting so weird! Matt thought. He then cleared his throat and examined her. She did seem pretty serious.

"Uh, Mimi, I'm sorry to interrupt in your thoughts... but..." Matt's voice trailed off.

Mimi looked at him expectantly. "What?" she asked him.

Matt scratched his head. "Oh nothing..."

"Mimi!" somebody called out.

They both turned to look. A girl with long black hair was waving at Mimi. Mimi waved back in excitement.

"Oh Erica! There you are! I was looking all over for you!" Mimi exclaimed. She then ran towards her friend, leaving Matt completely isolated.

__

Fine, forget about me! Matt thought to himself, feeling left out.

Then as if she could read his mind, Mimi turned to look back at Matt. Their eyes on each other. 

"Oh Matt! I'm sorry, but I really have to go! Bye!" Mimi waved goodbye at him.

Matt managed a small wave and a tiny smile.

* * *

After school, Matt headed down at the park. He was playing his harmonica again. That meeting with Mimi still stuck in his head. He just couldn't stop thinking about that meeting. For some odd reason, he wanted to talk to Mimi again. She had seemed to bring fun to his boring old life. He knew that talking to Mimi in school was definitely not typical. He and Mimi hardly talked at all in school since they were not taking the same courses. Matt wasn't in any classes with Mimi at all. It was weird talking to her again. Even talking to Joe... They all had been really busy with their studies that they hardly get the chance to get together. Even Tai, Sora, Kari, and Izzy...

He continued to play the same tune on his harmonica and repeated it again once. After that, he stopped playing and watched many kids play in the park. It seemed like a long time ago since he was that age. He missed his childhood. He missed the digi-world.

There was something that he couldn't stop thinking about right after he spoke to Mimi, but what? It was so strange.

"Hey Matt! Is that you?"

Matt looked up at Tai. He stood up quickly and smiled. "Tai! Is that really you?!"

Tai chuckled. "Yep! It's the same old me!"

"Hey man! You haven't changed a bit!" Matt exclaimed. "So? How are Sora and the others?"

"Hi Matt," it was Sora's voice.

Matt turned to look and smiled at her. "Sora! Whoa, you guys have grown, huh?"

Sora giggled. "Yep, we've never seen each other in a while, huh?"

"So what have you guys been up to lately?" Matt asked.

Tai scratched his head reluctantly. "Well... you see, since tomorrow is Friday night, Sora and I are going to the movies."

"Movies? Sounds like fun," Matt lowered his gaze. He couldn't help but feel a little jealous at Tai. He knew he shouldn't feel that way, but he just couldn't help it.

"Matt, why don't you come with us too?" Sora suggested.

Matt quickly looked up at her in surprised. "What?!" he lowered his gaze on the ground just to avoid Sora's gaze. "I don't want to be in your way..."

Tai gave him a friendly punch. "Come on, Matt! Why don't you bring a girl too, so we could double date!"

Matt only looked at Tai as if he was crazy. "Are you nuts?!"

Tai smiled at him mischievously. "Come on now... you just can't bring a girl to go out with you, is that your problem?"

Matt turned bright red in embarrassment. "That's NOT the reason why, Tai! And you know it!" he yelled angrily.

"Okay, enough you guys! Don't fight now!" Sora told them.

Matt and Tai turned away from each other.

"Hmph," Tai scolded. "Can't you take a joke, Matt?"

"You call that a joke?! I was nearly offended at what you said!"

"Guys! Didn't you just hear what I said!" Sora exclaimed, getting annoyed.

"You know what your problem is, Matt? You got attitude problem! That's the reason why you can't get a girl to date you!" Tai harassed.

"Is that so?!" Matt shot back. "Well, okay! I'll bet you ten bucks that I could get a PRETTY girl to go out with me tomorrow night!"

"Okay, sure! Deal!" Tai agreed. "It's a double date then."

"Deal," Matt answered with confidence. They both shook each other's hand for the deal.

__

He's sure is confident. I wonder if Matt is going out with someone already, Tai thought.

__

Hmph... this is sure hard. How in the world am I gonna find a PRETTY girl to go out with me tomorrow tonight? Matt thought.

__

Sigh. Those two never learned... Sora sighed.

* * *

The phone rang, and Izzy quickly answered it.

"Matt!" Izzy exclaimed. It was weird hearing his voice again. "What would be the reason of your call?"

"Izzy! Do you know any pretty girls around that I could date for tomorrow night? I need your help!" Matt replied over the receiver.

"Matt, if you don't mind, I'm in the middle of doing my homework-"

"Tai and I made a deal! And I have to win this bet! I bet him that I could get a pretty girl to go out with me tomorrow night. We're double dating tomorrow, you see..." Matt interrupted.

"I'm sorry, Matt," Izzy told him. "But I'm afraid I can't help you. I happen to be dateless you know."

"Well, I'll try calling Joe, then. Thanks Izzy!"

"Sure no prob-" before he could finish, Matt had already hung up the phone. 

Izzy stared at the receiver as he heard the dial tone. "Whoa, Matt must be desperate to get a girlfriend..."

* * *

"Okay," Matt sighed in disappointment. "Thanks anyway, Joe..."

Matt hung up the phone in obvious disappointment. _If I don't find the girl now, I'm gonna be the whole laugh in school..._ Matt thought. _Tai is gonna make fun of me..._

"What should I do?" Matt asked aloud to himself. He got up and put his coat and shoes on and ran outside. _It's time for me to hit the place where the girls are..._

After walking for what seemed like hours, Matt entered the local mall. There were still a lot of people at the mall. He began to walk around. _Man, it's so boring when you're alone at the mall. What a drag..._ After a moment, he found himself at the food court. He heard funny sounds from his tummy. He sighed. _I might as well take a little break... _

Matt sat at a nearby milkshake stand. He looked over the menu. _Burger? Fries? What should I get..._

"Good evening! Welcome to Shake-a-loo Dairy!" yet another familiar voice said.

Matt, without turning away from the menu, replied, "Uh, hi Miss... can I get a burger please?"

"Sure, Matt, coming right up!" the lady replied.

Matt quickly looked up to see who it was. He smiled and blushed at the same time. "Mimi! It's you again!"

Mimi giggled, smiling at him as well. "Hi Matt! It's weird how I keep bumping onto you all the time."

He nodded in agreement. "Yeah, weird huh?" he looked around the dairy bar. "So... you work here?"

"Duh!" Mimi laughed. "I just got the job last week."

"How do you like it here?" he asked.

"Okay," she replied. "I smell like milk all the time! But it's not that bad." She giggled again. "I'm just getting use to it... I'm not used to working like this."

"Mimi..." his voice trailed off once again.

"What?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh n-nothing...!" Matt quickly answered. 

She just smiled at him. "Well, I better get your order ready, huh?" she went to the backroom.

Matt lowered his gaze to his lap. _Man... Mimi's, like, maturing... It's so hard to believe, and yet she's still the same pretty girl I know from childhood._ He looked up at the ceiling. _Wait a minute. Did I just say that she was pretty? _Matt looked at Mimi who was busy with the other customer now. _No way... but... actually... no. I can't deny it. She IS cute. But... no. No way. No._ Matt closed his eyes trying to ignore what he was thinking. _No way... she is just a friend. A good old childhood friend... a close friend... not a... not a..._

"Oh Matt! Here's your burger!" Mimi called him.

"Huh?!" Matt exclaimed as he woke up from his reverie.

Mimi frowned. "Were you just daydreaming?" she asked him.

Matt tried to laugh it all off. "Oh no!" he quickly grabbed the burger and took a bite out of it. "Oh, thanks Mimi! Your burger is good!" he began munching on his food rapidly.

Mimi watched him in disgust. "Are you feeling okay or something?"

He quickly nodded his head. "Oh I'm fine! Good burger, Mimi! No wonder they hired you!"

"Thanks," she replied without enthusiasm. "Uh, I'm gonna go check on the other customer..."

"Yeah, sure!"

Mimi slowly went to the next customer. Matt then placed the burger down on his plate and thought for a moment. _I can't believe I was actually thinking of asking Mimi out on a date. I mean after all, we're JUST friends. _He thought for a while longer. _Wait a minute! That's it! Since we're just FRIENDS, I'll just ask Mimi nicely if she'd do me a favor and go out with me just for tomorrow night... hey, that's what friends are for, right? They help each other when they need one another. Great! _Matt glanced at Mimi quickly. _Now the hardest part of this is asking her. How in the world should I ask her? What if she freaks out on me? Man, I can't let that happen. No. But how should I ask her?_

"Hey Matt," Mimi looked at him.

"Huh? Oh hi Mimi," he said.

"Are you done with your food?"

Matt handed her his pay. She then quickly gave him his receipt.

"Matt, wait," Mimi called out to him before he could leave.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"Uh, I'm just on my way home right now," Mimi told him. "So do you mind if you wait for me? I have to walk home, you see."

"I don't mind," he replied quickly. And besides, he still had to ask her out anyway.

"Oh thanks, Matt! You're the best!" Mimi exclaimed.

"No problem," Matt smiled.

* * *

"Are you sure you don't mind that you walk me home?" Mimi asked for the third time. "I mean, you live pretty far from here..."

"Of course I'm sure," Matt said. "It's not safe for a girl to walk at night at a time like this. So I might as well guide you..."

Mimi frowned at him. "Hey! Who asked you to be my bodyguard, huh?"

"I just wanted you to get home safely!" Matt exclaimed as he started blushing in embarrassment.

Mimi lowered her gaze. "Sorry... don't get mad at me... I was only joking."

Matt studied her gaze. _Man, what a jerk am I. _"Sorry, Mimi..."

No one spoke for a while. There was an awkward silence between them. The two never said a word to each other until they had finally reached Mimi's house.

"Well, this is it..." Mimi sighed. She yawned as she walked to the front steps. She turned to Matt and gave him a weak smile. "Thank you for walking me home, Matt."

"You're welcome..." he answered.

Mimi searched for her keys through her purse. Matt's heart started to pound quickly. _Come on, man! Ask her out! Go on! Man... why can't I do it? Tai can't win this bet!_ He slowly took a reluctant step toward Mimi.

"Mimi, wait... I..." he stammered for something to say.

"Huh? Did you forget something?"

He quickly shook his head. "No it's just that..." _Okay! Here goes nothing!_

"Mimi. I want to ask you out tomorrow night, but don't freak out yet, okay? You see, Tai and I made a bet. I bet him that I could get a girl to go out with me tomorrow night... but I didn't have time to find a girl, so there's only you left. So please, Mimi, will you do it as a friend? Will you just go out with me on a double date with Tai and Sora tomorrow night? Look, it's not because of... er... because I like-like you... I mean, uh, sure I like you... but not in the way that you think it is... I uh..." Matt's voice then trailed off, and he could feel his face turning bright red. "Uh, Mimi?"

He waited for Mimi's respond, but she was only looking at him without saying anything. _Come on, girl. Say something! Give me some kind of reaction! Don't just stand there!_

Then Mimi suddenly gave him a warm smile. Matt's heart nearly fell onto his stomach. "Of course, Matt. I'd be happy to help... I mean, if this is the only way I could repay you for walking me home. Sure." She turned around to avoid his gaze so he wouldn't see her blushing.

Matt sighed in relief. "Thank you, Mimi... uh, I guess, I'll pick you up at your house tomorrow night at six... okay?" he asked nervously.

She nodded her head without looking at him.

"Um..." he scratched his head nervously. "Well, I guess I'll see you in school?"

"Yeah..."

"Great!" he replied. There was still a hint of nervousness in his tone. "See ya later then! Bye."

"Bye..." Mimi whispered softly. But behind the bushes, a black-haired girl saw and heard it all.

* * *

The next day in school, Mimi Tachikawa looked at her watch for the third time already. She was waiting at her locker for her friend, Erica. But she didn't even show up yet. _What in the world is taking her so long? _Mimi thought to herself. _I should've set Erica up with Matt. She's pretty enough to go out with a hunk like him._

"Mimi!" it was Erica, finally.

Mimi sighed in relief. "So there you are, Erica! I've been waiting for you here for quite a while... for ten minutes!"

"Ten minutes?" Erica echoed. She put a hand on her hip. "Just how impatient are you anyway?"

Mimi was about to reply when Erica interrupted her.

"Guess what, Mimi," Erica started. "I saw you last night... I saw and heard everything what you've been talking about."

Mimi blinked in confusion. "Huh?! What do you mean?"

Before Erica could answer, however, Joe past by them and looked at Mimi.

"Mimi, I heard you're gonna go out on a date with Matt tonight," Joe teased, winking at her.

Mimi couldn't help but turn bright red at his remark. "Joe! Where in the world did you hear that from?! Did Matt tell you?"

He shook his head. "No don't blame Matt. He's just a guy... you know him..."

Mimi could feel her blood boil. "But who told you this?!"

He looked up to think. "Well, it's the whole talk in the school... hey, whoa!" three girls had pushed Joe out of the way.

"Tachikawa!" one of the girls exclaimed. 

"Mimi, I heard that Matt asked you out!"

"WHA—" Mimi couldn't believe her ears. But Matt wasn't the type to go spread rumors around, was he? He wasn't that type of guy. She didn't want to believe that Matt would do that.

"Yeah! Where is he taking you tonight?" the girl asked her.

Mimi couldn't hold it any longer. She plugged her ears. She didn't want to hear their questions any longer. "STOP IT!! I've had enough!" she yelled angrily. 

The girls stopped mid-sentence and blinked in surprised by Mimi's reaction. "Mimi...?"

"I TOLD you to leave us alone! And mind your own business!" Mimi screamed. She put her hands angrily, her eyes turned into a frown. And her face was bright red. "So what if Ishida and I are going out or not! Who cares? Don't you girls have any life and talk about people's life? Huh?!"

"Er... never mind our questions, Mimi!" one of the girls said, getting ready to leave.

"Yeah, I'll just get lost so we don't bother you anymore. Ha ha..." the other girl added.

"Hmph," Mimi watched as the three girls left.

Before Mimi could say something to Erica, however, she seemed reluctant to talk to Mimi. Erica made a motion to leave.

"Erica, wait..."

Erica avoided her gaze. "I'm sorry, Mimi..."

"Erica..."

Erica walked away from her without any word.

"Erica... what have you done..." Mimi whispered softly.

* * *

Later that night, Matt decided to head home right away after school. He had a lot to do. He had to look good for this date. He had to look better than Tai. He had to. Matt went straight to the bathroom right when he got home. He studied himself in front of the mirror.

"Man, my hair is still the same," Matt observed. "What should I use? Gel or mousse? Which is better?"

After five long minutes of deciding, Matt settled on with a bottle of mousse. It took him about an hour to finally finish fixing his hair. He just wanted his spikes to look perfect for the date. 

Matt smiled in satisfaction when he saw his hair. "Great! I'm back again... I AM the man!" He chuckled softly, admiring his hair in front of the mirror. _Wait 'till Mimi sees me..._

"Matt! Are you in there?" he heard his mom knocking on the door.

"Yeah, Mom! I'm almost done!" Matt called out.

"Mimi is on the phone, Dear!" his mother called back.

Matt almost dropped his bottle of mousse. "Oh yeah, Mom! I'm coming! Tell her to hold on! I'm almost finished here!" 

__

Great... this is great... Matt quickly hurried out of the bathroom. "Mom! I'll use the phone in my room!" he called out to his mom. He quickly ran to his room and grabbed the phone as fast as he could. "Hello? Mimi?"

"Matt?" Mimi's voice replied.

"Uh, hi, what's up?" he answered.

"Look, um... I was just wondering i-if we could just meet somewhere else," Mimi told him.

"What? Why?" Matt asked. Wouldn't she want him to pick her up at her house?

"It's not because I don't want you coming here... it's just that..." Mimi thought about Erica again. "Um, well... how about we meet at the mall or something?"

"But Mimi, I offered to pick you up. I don't mind going all the way to your house, really..." Matt assured her.

"Um... well, I..." she sounded hesitant.

"Don't worry! I'll be at your house an hour early, okay?" 

"Um..."

"Great! I'll be there at five!" Matt concluded. "So... I'll see you there, okay?"

"S-sure..." Mimi replied. "W-whatever..."

"See you later, Mimi," Matt said before he hung up.

* * *

About three hours later, Tai and Sora were sitting across from each other at the food court area of the mall. 

"Tai, you don't think Matt is gonna stand you up, are you?" Sora asked him.

"Nobody stands me up, Sora! If he does, I'll show him!" Tai replied. Then he smiled at her as he put his arms around Sora. "He probably couldn't get a date after all!" Tai burst out laughing just thinking about it.

"You better hold that laugh, Tai, 'cause here comes Matt..." Sora warned him.

Tai immediately stopped from laughing when he saw Matt and his date. "Sora... s-she IS pretty..."

Sora raised an eyebrow. "Take a closer look, Tai."

Tai playfully took out his mini telescope and looked closely at Matt. "Wha... It's Mimi!" he exclaimed in surprised. Matt and Mimi were walking toward their direction. Both of them wore some rather awkward faces together. Matt was wearing a green sweater and a pair of black pants. Mimi was wearing a pink sundress, and light pink high-heeled sandals. She looked really good. Tai had never thought that pink and green would look good together.

"Hey, we've been waiting here for quite a while now. What took you guys so long?" Sora asked as she approached them.

"We would've been here sooner, but Mimi just had to put her make-up on!" Matt replied, giving Mimi a look.

"Oh come on, chill out, Matt!" Mimi said. "You're the one who told me you're gonna pick me up at six, and you come knocking at my door an hour early!"

Tai realized that they weren't getting anywhere by their argument. "Okay, come on, you guys! We're supposed to be on a date here, remember?"

Matt gave him a look.

Tai scratched his head. "Come on! Our movie is starting in five minutes. You guys don't wanna miss this movie, do you?"

"Let's get going," Sora said.

Tai took Sora's hand and the two walked in front of Matt and Mimi. _Oh yeah, Tai? You're not the only one who gets to hold some girl's hand! _Matt nervously glanced at Mimi who wasn't paying any attention at all.

"Mimi..." Matt whispered.

She didn't move for she didn't hear Matt at all. Matt noticed that they were walking too far away from each other. Matt slowly moved closer to Mimi, their shoulders touching. Mimi could feel herself blushing as she looked at him.

"Mimi, just..." Matt stammered. "J-just..." he gently took Mimi's hand onto his own. "...hold on to my hand..."

"O-okay..." Mimi replied nervously.

The two held onto each other's hand like they were real couples, but their faces didn't prove it. It seemed like they've been walking for an eternity when they finally reached the theater. Matt witnessed his heart beating so fast. _Why am I so nervous about this?_ He asked himself.

The two couples then settled down on their seats and waited for the movie to start.

"Hey, Sora, do you want something to eat?" Matt heard Tai asking Sora. "I'll get you your favorite!"

"Oh, thanks Tai!" Sora answered as Tai disappeared out of the theater.

__

Is he just trying to show off? Matt thought. He then turned to look at Mimi who was busy singing along with the song that they were playing on the previews.

"Mimi," Matt said.

"Yes, Matt?" she asked.

"Do you want anything? Like, food? Popcorn? What?" he offered.

Mimi smiled and looked at him. "Oh Matt! Popcorn would be great!"

"Okay, wait here, I'll be back..." 

* * *

Matt approached Tai after Tai finished paying for his food. 

"So, Tai... I guess I won after all, right?" Matt told him with a smile.

Tai chuckled. "I didn't know you liked Mimi!"

Matt lost his confidence and turned scarlet red. Suddenly realizing what happened, he turned to Tai angrily. "Just who do you think you are teasing me like that?! Who cares if I like Mimi or not! It's none of your business!"

Tai frowned. "Hey, cool it, man! You're getting mad for no reason. Hey, I admit it, okay? You won the bet... but you get your money later. I have to see if your date with Mimi goes well before I give up my ten bucks."

Matt smiled and crossed his arms over his chest. "You're not confident enough, eh?"

Tai laughed. "Call it whatever you want... but if you are confident enough to make out with Mimi, then I'll double the bet. How's that?"

This time Matt didn't turn red, but he turned purple instead. "What did you say?! I can't kiss Mimi! No way!"

"Are you scared?" Tai challenged.

"Of course not!" he answered quickly. "I don't kiss anyone on a first date! She might freak out on me!"

"Oh you're scared that Mimi might slapped you in the face when you try to make a move on her?" Tai asked.

Matt shook his head. "No that's not it, Tai..." _He just doesn't know that Mimi and I DO NOT like each other. What's his problem?_ "I don't know, Tai... I don't think she wants me to kiss her."

"Hmm... and why not? She seemed to really like you," Tai assured his friend.

"What? Really?" he asked. He couldn't believe it. Was it possible? Could Mimi really like him?

Tai chuckled. "Well, do whatever you want..."

"I just don't wanna go too fast on her..." Matt told him. "But... of course if..." _If she really likes me, then it should be okay to kiss her, right?_ "Okay! You're on, Tai! I'm gonna make out with Mimi for twenty bucks this time!"

"Okay," Tai agreed. "But are you sure?"

"Of course I'm sure!" Matt replied. 

"Boy... you are going too fast on your girlfriend..." Tai said quietly as he walked back to the theater.

"Girlfriend?" Matt echoed as he looked at Tai in confusion. _So he really thinks that Mimi and I are really going out? Whatever..._

* * *

"Oh Matt, what took you so long?" Mimi as asked as she took the popcorn from Matt.

"Uh, sorry Mimi..." he glanced at Tai who was already busy watching the first part of the movie. "Uh... I ran into a friend of mine in school..."

"Aah!" Mimi suddenly screamed. She quickly threw her arms around Matt for comfort. "Oh Matt! What was that?" She hid her face on his chest. Matt put his arms around her and tried to comfort her.

"It's okay, Mimi... the guy just saw a spider," Matt told her.

"Oh, okay..." she slowly pulled away from his grasps.

Matt observed her. She really wasn't faking it. She was really scared. _Oh Mimi, Mimi, Mimi... same old Mimi..._ he thought. He took another quick glance at Tai. He noticed that he was still holding onto Sora's hand. _Hmph... he sure looks comfortable._

"Matt!" Mimi screamed again. Once again, she threw her arms around Matt.

"Mimi!" Matt exclaimed in surprised. Obviously, he wasn't paying attention at the movie so he did not expect Mimi at all to be scared.

"Oh my gosh! That monster is huge!" Mimi said as she tightly held onto Matt.

Matt embraced her back. Somehow he felt rather comforting to hold onto Mimi so close like this. He had never felt like this before. He liked holding Mimi like this.

"Mimi, you're supposed to be used to seeing monsters," Sora reminded her. "We used to have monster friends, remember?"

"Oh... right..." Mimi moved away from Matt, blushing.

__

Thanks a lot, Sora! Matt thought inside his head.

Another monster scene came on but this time, Mimi did not embrace Matt. Instead, she tightly held his own hand onto her own nervously. _Poor Mimi... she really IS scared. Maybe she's just not used to seeing monsters anymore..._

A while later, another gore scene came on, and this time, Mimi screamed in fear and threw herself onto Matt's arms again.

"Matt!" Mimi screamed.

"Oh Mimi... a-are you okay?" Matt asked, as he looked down to her. He tightly held her in his arms as if he didn't want to let her go.

"Matt, I'm sorry, but I'm scared...." Mimi said softly.

"Hey it's okay, girl. It's just a movie..." Matt assured her.

Mimi then started to crack a little laugh. "Oh stupid me! It IS only a movie... I can't believe I'm such a chicken acting like this..." she looked up at Matt. Matt only blinked and stared back at her questioningly. Mimi pulled away and looked away from Matt's gaze. Matt seemed rather confused at her.

__

Now what... doesn't she like the movie?

"I-I'm so sorry..." he heard Mimi whispering softly.

"Huh?" Matt looked confused. He then touched Mimi's shoulders and turned her around so that they were facing each other. "Mimi..."

"You're annoyed at me, are you?" Mimi asked. "I'm sorry, Matt. I just ruined this date for you."

Matt felt sorry for her. "Mimi, of course you didn't... I..."

"Mimi!" Tai interrupted.

Matt scowled at Tai but Tai was busy looking at Mimi. 

"Grow up, okay? This is only a movie! Look if you didn't wanna watch a sci-fi movie, you never should've came with Matt!" Tai scolded at the upset Mimi. "You're bothering other people who's watching!"

Matt then stood up and faced Tai. There was an angry look forming on his face. "That's enough, Tai! Leave her alone! Don't you understand? She has her own feelings too!"

Tai took a step back from Matt. "Matt... I..."

"Quiet! Don't you see that she's really scared of the movie? This isn't the time to start yelling at her!" Matt shot back. "How can you be so insensitive!"

"Matt! Cool it!" Sora exclaimed as she stood up from her seat as well.

But Matt just ignored Tai and Sora. He turned to Mimi and offered his hand. "Come on, Mimi. Come with me..."

Mimi seemed hesitant to take Matt's hand. "M-Matt... but..."

"Let's go," Matt said firmly.

"O-okay..." Mimi reluctantly replied. She took Matt's hand and the two walked out of the theater.

After that, Tai and Sora settled back to their seats. The two was silent until Sora interrupted the silence.

"This was all your fault, Tai!" Sora exclaimed, standing up from her seat.

Tai followed her example. "What are you doing?" he asked as he noticed Sora walking for the exit door.

"Isn't it obvious? I'm gonna go find Matt and Mimi to apologize. They don't deserve to be treated like this on their first date!" Sora answered and went off.

* * *

TO BE CONTINUED! Read part 2 to see what happens next!

**__**

AUTHOR'S NOTE: So what do you guys think of it so far? It took me a while to think of a romantic story based on Matt and Mimi, and I finally got with this story so far. I hope you guys enjoyed this as much as I had enjoyed writing this! Thanks for your time reading my first Digimon fic!

-by Mimi Blossoms (aka Aeris_15 in FanFiction.net)

   [1]: mailto:mimiblossomsmt@yahoo.com
   [2]: mailto:aeris_15@yahoo.com



	2. Default Chapter Title

****

Pink and Green

By [Mimi Blossoms][1] (aka [Aeris_15][2])

PART TWO:

Tai and Sora walked around the mall, trying to find Matt and Mimi. They've been walking for ten minutes and there were still no sign of them.

"I don't why we're wasting our time finding that jerk..." Tai muttered under his breath.

"Maybe you WERE a little rough on Mimi," Sora said to him. "You see, sometimes you do have to understand their feelings too."

Tai stopped walking. "Yeah... you're right. I should've given them a little more space. I mean after all, this IS their first date. Right?"

"Yeah," she replied. "Don't worry, Tai. Just make sure you apologize when we find them."

Tai suddenly looked up at a couple approaching them slowly wearing pink and green. "Hey, there they are!"

Tai and Sora quickly ran up to the couple. 

"Yo! Matt! Over here!" Tai called out.

Matt turned to look at Tai with a scowl. "What do you want, Tai?" he asked.

"Look Matt..." Sora began. "We're really sorry about what happened."

"Sora, you don't need to apologize." Matt told her.

Tai stepped toward Mimi. "Mimi..."

Mimi reluctantly looked up at him. 

"I-I'm sorry I yelled at you earlier..." he apologized rather pathetically, scratching his head with his hands. "Well, whatever... I'm just sorry..." However, Matt studied Tai's expressions carefully; he did look sincere enough.

Before Mimi could answer, Matt placed a hand on Tai's shoulder. "Come over here, Tai."

Matt led Tai on the other side where Sora and Mimi couldn't hear them.

"What?" Tai questioned.

Matt looked away from Tai. "Okay... maybe I WAS a little too harsh on you back there." He then looked straight at Tai. "But you shouldn't have yelled at Mimi like that..." 

Tai shrugged. "Yeah, that's why I APOLOGIZED to her... Just what is your problem anyway? You don't think my apology was good enough?"

Matt turned to Mimi who was already laughing at something that Sora had said. He then looked back at Tai. "Whatever... she's seemed alright, so I suppose..."

"Great! So everything's all settled then, right?"

Matt didn't bother to answer, but walked back to where Sora and Mimi was. Tai followed behind him.

"So? What's next?" Sora asked as Tai and Matt approached them. It seemed obvious that everything was going to be okay.

Tai looked at his digivice. It was already eight-thirty. "Hmm... I don't know. Where do you guys wanna go next?"

"Hey why don't we let Mimi decide?" Sora suggested.

They all turned to Mimi. Mimi looked at them. "Huh?! But why me?"

"Go on, Mimi," Tai said. "It's your decision..."

* * *

__

Whoa! This restaurant is too fancy for me! Ugh! Matt thought as he looked around. After browsing around six stores just to find proper wardrobes, they all had finally settled on an expensive restaurant. As usual, Mimi had picked out a pink-colored, yet sexy dress, which showed off her slender figure. Mimi was also the one that picked out Matt's dark 'green-colored' suit. _I should've known Mimi would pick a place like this. No wonder she volunteered to buy us this wardrobe._ He looked at Mimi, who was only excited as she walked beside Matt. His face turned a shade of red at the sight of her. She really did look beautiful with that dress. She was like a real princess. He then thought about if he and Mimi were really going out. It would be hard for him though. _What am I ever gonna do if she becomes my real girlfriend? Man... it would be pricey... I can't imagine. She's too scary... she's too expensive for me..._

Why did I ever suggest Mimi to decide where to go next? Sora asked herself silently.

__

Food! Food! Awesome! I'm glad Mimi picked this placed! I'm all starved! Tai thought to himself silently as he examined the formal restaurant.

A waiter wearing a tuxedo came up to the four of them.

"Good evening, children," the guy bowed his head politely.

"Hi!" Mimi greeted in a high voice. "May we get a table for four please?"

"Right this way please," the waiter led them to the inner part of the restaurant.

Finally, they settled down on a comfy-looking table for four. Matt sighed. He knew he had to pay for Mimi's dinner as well. He silently watched as the waiter passed them the menu books. _Man, this is giving me a headache... I'm gonna be broke by the time I get out of this date. _He glanced at Mimi who was sitting beside him. She looked pretty happy, for there was a smile on her face. He looked away and read the menu in silence. _Well, I'm glad she's so excited... at least, I know she's having fun on our so-called first date..._

He sighed and just stared at the menu.

"Hey, Matt, did you think of what you're gonna get yet?" Tai asked.

Matt didn't say a word. He placed the menu book down on the table and sighed._ My head hurts! Please someone get me out of this date! _He thought lamely to himself. He didn't realize that Tai was looking straight at him, waiting for an answer.

"Matt!" Tai almost yelled.

Matt quickly looked at Tai, obviously startled. "What?!" he replied immediately.

Tai eyed him suspiciously, raising an eyebrow. "Are you _feeling_ okay?"

Matt blinked and thought for a moment. It took him a while to answer. Then he decided to laugh it all off. "Yeah, I'm fine!" he assured. He turned to face his date. "Mimi, have you decided what you want yet?"

Mimi smiled at him. "Actually, not yet... can we order later?"

__

Ugh... can't she order now? I want to get this whole thing over with... my head is aching. I can't stand being here anymore, Matt thought silently. He was already getting annoyed. Mimi, sensing, his mood then opened up her menu book.

"Uh... I guess I'll just get something to drink..." she said reluctantly.

Matt suddenly had a brilliant idea. He moved closer beside Mimi and took her hand, and laid it down on the table for Tai to see. "Fine, whatever... let's just order, okay? Besides, we still have to go somewhere else..." Matt whispered into Mimi's ear.

Mimi shivered. Her heart began to pound nervously. She frowned and looked at Matt, giving him a what's-up-with-you kind of look. Tai examined the two silently. But he was taking a close watch on Matt as if examining his every move. He didn't trust Matt with Mimi, it seemed like it. He felt as if Matt was just using Mimi. And there was no way he was gonna let Mimi get hurt by Matt. Matt should've picked someone else to go out with him, rather than someone they knew very well.

Matt's eyes fell upon Tai's and smiled at him.

"Would you two excuse us?" Tai asked Sora and Mimi, yet his eyes remained on Matt's.

"Sure, whatever..." Sora answered, eyeing them both questioningly. 

"You can order while we're gone," Matt added, looking at the waiter as he nodded his head.

Matt and Tai then headed away from them. When they were out of earshot, Sora and Mimi made their orders. As the waiter left, Sora looked at Mimi and smiled.

"So... how long have you guys been... you know..." Sora asked. Instead of Mimi being embarrassed about Sora's question, Sora was the one who had turned bright red in embarrassment.

Mimi pretended to look confused. "Been... what?" she shyly asked.

"You know! How long have you and Matt been dating?" Sora repeated.

__

Dating?! Mimi thought in confusion. _Date? DATE?D-A-T-E? Date? Date? Date? Me? And Matt? So... she really thinks I'm Matt's girlfriend? Me? Mimi Tachikawa? Me go out with Yamato? Yeah right! In my dreams!_

"Oh Mimi... I'm asking you something!" Sora reminded her, breaking her from her thoughts.

Mimi blinked in surprised. "Oh r-right! Right! I'm sorry, Sora... I was just thinking what kind of shade of lipstick I should get next... HA! HA!" she added rather pathetically.

"Oh... okay..." Sora replied. It seemed obvious that Sora didn't buy it, so Mimi cleared her throat and got her purse ready.

Mimi giggled. "R-right! I was thinking of changing my usual color... I've had lots of pink lipsticks already! I got the magenta one and the fuchsia one, and the deep rose one! I got all pink! I'm tired of pink!" she opened up her purse and took out a fuchsia shaded lipstick. "Here look! Doesn't this shade of lipstick make you puke? Eeww! It's so nasty! I can't even believe I bought it in the first place! Yech!"

Sora looked at Mimi in a funny way. "Are you feeling okay, Mimi? I mean, I can't believe I'm hearing this. I'd never thought you'd give up your most favorite color..."

Mimi scratched her head, trying to think of a good answer. "Heh... heh... Sorry! I'll keep quiet now..." she told her.

"Okay... so back to my question..." Sora said. She wasn't letting Mimi get off that easily. "Just when did Matt ask you out anyway?"

Mimi busied herself as she powdered her cheeks. "Oh Matt? Umm... he asked me out... uh? When? Umm... well... er, uh, we've been dating since yesterday. Yes, that's right! Since yesterday!"

"Just yesterday, huh?" Sora echoed. "You know what I noticed? Matt can't stop looking at you tonight! He seems to really like you, Mimi. I'm happy for you."

Mimi suddenly stopped doing her make-up and looked at Sora. "R-really?! You mean that?! Matt... he _kept_ looking at _me?_"

She nodded. "Yes! And it's normal, right? That's what couples do."

"Oh my... how I'm flattered..." Mimi whispered. "Matt... but no way!"

"What do you mean 'no way'?" Sora replied. "Matt is your boyfriend, right?"

It was obvious that Sora was beginning to look rather suspicious. Mimi eyed her nervously. "Oh, that's right! I forgot! Yeah! Matt _is_ my boyfriend... ha... ha... ha..."

"You forgot?" Sora echoed, but Mimi was too busy laughing to hear Sora. _That's weird... why would Mimi just forget that Matt is her boyfriend?_ She examined the laughing Mimi and smiled. _Nah... that's just Mimi. She just doesn't want to admit her relationship with Matt. She's probably just embarrassed..._

"Sora... what do you think of Matt?" Mimi suddenly asked after she stopped laughing.

"He's a nice guy," Sora answered sincerely. "He's cool and—"

"—good-looking!" Mimi finished for her. 

Sora rested her arms on the table in a deep thought. "You know, I sorta missed the digi-world. I wonder how everyone's doing... I kinda wished that we could've brought them here in the real world with us..."

Mimi placed her make-up back in her purse. "I don't miss the digi-world. I was glad that whole thing was over! I hated it..."

Sora giggled. "Oh Mimi!"

Mimi then lowered her gaze and stared at her lap. "Well, okay, I admit it... I missed them all. I missed Palmon and all of them." She then looked closely at Sora. "But I don't miss the fighting at all. Every time we fought, we lost a friend..."

"Don't remind me. I know how it feels," Sora replied in a low voice, recalling the events. "But hey, we've managed to beat all the bad digimon, right? You should be happy..."

"Thank you, Sora," she answered. _Sora's right... I should BE happy. In fact, I AM excited... about Matt. Wait a minute. Me? Excited? What am I talking about? I shouldn't be excited! _Mimi tried to ignore her feeling, it was a feeling of excitement, like lightning running through her veins. _Matt is just trying to be nice, that's all. He knew better than to go out with me._

Then the order came and the two sat in silence, waiting for Tai and Matt.

* * *

Tai led Matt out of the restaurant quietly. He had other things he had in mind. Somehow Matt and Mimi didn't seem right for each other. Well of course he could just tell that they really liked each other, but something wasn't right. Sure he was sure that Mimi really liked Matt... but what about Matt? He did seem to like Mimi too, but not in that way, and something wasn't right. He felt that Matt was hiding something. He knew it wasn't his business to get in the way, but he'd do this because he cared about them. Tai then stopped and turned to face Matt. 

"So? What do you want?" Matt asked Tai coldly as they arrived just outside the restaurant.

"Let me get something straight here, Matt," Tai began as he turned to look at Matt. "Are you playing Mimi?"

"What?!" Matt said, looking stunned. But there was a guilty feeling inside. Was he just using Mimi? "I don't play on anyone! I know better than that!"

Tai shook his head. _Matt IS taking the bait._ "I'm sorry, man, but I think you're just using Mimi!"

Matt turned bright red at Tai's remark. "Believe whatever you want, Tai! Because I do LIKE Mimi!" _Huh? What on Earth am I saying? _Matt asked himself. _Oh well, just anything to win this bet. Ugh... okay, whatever... I'll just go back inside. _"Can't you leave us alone, Tai?" Matt told him, getting ready to leave. "I'm going. I have other things to do."

Tai was about to say something when they both stopped when they heard a scream from the inside of the restaurant. Tai and Matt looked at each other and nodded. Without a word, the two ran back inside the fancy restaurant. 

They passed many people, which they had to push because they were blocking the way.

"Sora! I'm coming!" Tai yelled.

__

Acting like the hero, as usual, Matt thought. "Mimi!" he then called out. He pushed a man that was standing on his way. "Mimi!"

As they were running, they found Sora running towards them.

"Sora! What's going on? I thought I heard Mimi screaming. What's happened to her?" Tai asked quickly.

She turned to Tai. "Tai! Mimi is... well... you know..." her voice trailed off as she looked at Mimi.

They found Mimi screaming. Matt's eyes widened. She stood there with her pink dress all drenched with wine. He could see her eyes watering as if she just lost a friend. Matt noticed that beside the frustrated Mimi, the waiter was standing next to her holding an empty tray. Looking at the floor, he found pieces of glass lying around. And as well... the floor was wet.

Mimi screamed. "This is INSANE! How dare you!" she yelled at the waiter. "My new dress is gone!" she then started to weep. 

Tai raised an eyebrow. "Is that all what this is about?" he asked, looking annoyed. He quickly ran toward Mimi. "Mimi, it's okay. It's just a dress."

Mimi continued sobbing and glared at Tai. "Oh yeah?! It's just a dress huh?! What would you know?! You don't understand, Tai! Don't you know that this IS a brand new dress?!"

"Come on, Mimi. You're crying over a dress. Enough weeping!" Tai yelled.

Mimi ignored Tai and turned angrily at the waiter. "I AM NOT paying for this! Just what kind of waiter are you anyway?!" she looked at their table and grabbed a plate of food and threw it at the waiter. "Take that you insect! No one insults a Tachikawa in public! Wait 'till my dad hears about this! You're gonna pay!"

The waiter quickly nodded his head many times as if he was unsure what to say. "T-Tachikawa.... I'm so sorry! I'm sorry! I didn't know your father was Tachikawa! I'm really sorry, Ma'am! F-forgive me for this please!"

"Just get out of my face!" Mimi yelled at him.

"R-right!" the waiter quickly said and ran from them.

Mimi still didn't look that satisfied, however, she looked at her drenching pink dress and started sobbing. She kneeled down on the floor, feeling sorry for herself. "Aaghh! I can't stand this! This is humiliating!" she cried helplessly. "My dress is gone! Gone! I hate it! I hate this!"

Sora bent down and looked at Mimi. "It's okay, Mimi. You can always get a new one... and besides," she gave Matt a quick glance as if asking for help and then turned back to Mimi. "...and besides, you still got your pink sundress with you, right?" She held onto Mimi's shoulders and helped her up. "Come on, I'll come with you to the washroom and change."

"Yeah let's go change..." Mimi whispered softly.

* * *

Mimi silently walked beside Matt. She glanced over at Tai and Sora who was walking along beside them. They were now walking around the mall. The mall was about to close now, so they only had about ten minutes before they leave. 

Mimi couldn't believe how much she had cried earlier. After all, it was just a dress. But she was still upset over her new pink dress. It was new! And she had really loved that dress. She was glad that Sora was there, though. She was happy that at least there was a girl by her side. She looked at her not-so-formal sundress, which she had worn in the first place. Not that her pink sundress didn't satisfy her... but Matt had never said a word to her after that incident that had happened at the restaurant.

__

Matt really hates me... I know he does. Why isn't he saying anything? Mimi asked herself. She turned to look at Matt, but he was busy looking ahead as he walked. She lowered her gaze on the ground. Matt wasn't holding her hand. _And I thought we were supposed to be a couple... why doesn't he hold my hand now? Maybe he was turned off at what happened earlier. Ugh. I don't even want to think about it... he didn't even help me..._

She suddenly stopped walking. Tai, Sora, and Matt noticed this, and they quickly looked at her.

"Mimi? What's wrong?" Sora asked.

"You're still not thinking about that dress, are you?" Tai asked. He sounded as if he was trying to tease her. Sora gave him a look and Tai just shrugged.

"No... let's just go home. I'm tired," Mimi replied softly.

Sora looked at her in concern. "Mimi, are you sure that nothing's bothering you?" she asked.

"Yeah..." she answered as she started to walk. "It's getting late. Let's head back..."

They followed Mimi quietly. Nobody dared to speak. Mimi really did look sad.

"Mimi..." Matt suddenly said as he broke the silence.

Matt and Mimi both stopped. Both looked unsure of what to say. Tai and Sora stopped as well. The two looked at them for a moment and then decided to leave them alone.

"I'm happy about Matt and Mimi. They look so cute together," Sora commented as she and Tai walked by the sidewalk.

"I just hope that Matt is not using Mimi or anything..." Tai told her. "I mean, I could tell that Mimi really likes Matt. But I just don't think that Matt likes her back the same way."

"So what are you saying? You don't like the idea of Mimi going out with Matt?" Sora questioned, her hands on her hips.

Tai chuckled. "Are you jealous?!"

Sora frowned. "Oh please!" she exclaimed, blushing. "I never get jealous!"

* * *

Matt sat across from Mimi, trying hard to avoid her gaze. They were seated at the courtyard just outside the mall. _Hmm... funny, how come I don't want to end this date now? Just a while ago, I was complaining, but now... This is weird. Oh well... at least I got out of that restaurant without paying, thanks to that waiter! _Matt looked at Mimi who had been watching him. He then looked away quickly, blushing. _Why does she keep on staring? I hope she's... fine._

"Mimi..." Matt began. 

__

Come on, Matt! Be a man and get your kiss from Mimi! He told himself. _I just gotta have that kiss! I have to win!_

"What is it, Matt?" came a soft reply from Mimi.

Matt slowly leaned forward. He was about to close his eyes to enjoy the big moment when he suddenly pulled away from her. _I-I can't do this! This isn't right... What if Tai is right? What if... what if I really AM just using Mimi? This is wrong. I can't just use Mimi because of Tai's stupid bet. I don't have the right to kiss Mimi so that I could get my twenty bucks. Besides... she doesn't even like me. What would she think if I kiss her? I'd probably get slapped..._

"Matt, I'm waiting!" Mimi told him.

Matt quickly looked at her in surprised. He had totally forgotten that Mimi had been waiting for him to answer. He looked down in embarrassment.

"I-I'm sorry, Mimi..." Matt whispered to her softly.

"For what? You didn't do anything," she answered.

__

Yes I did! I can't even believe that I've attempted to kiss you, Mimi! It's not right. You don't want me to. You don't want to because you don't like me... And... it's not fair that I'm just using you just to compete with Tai. You've always been a sincere friend, but just look at what I'm doing now... Why are we here? Why? We're still here because of my stupid plan... Oh Mimi. I'm so sorry! Matt wished that he could say that to her, but unfortunately he did not have enough courage to do that.

Matt stood up and looked over at Mimi. "Uh... it's getting late... I should take you home."

Mimi looked at him in disappointment. "S-sure..." she replied reluctantly. She seemed to be expecting Matt to offer her his hand, but he didn't. Matt started to walk ahead of her, and Mimi reluctantly followed. _Matt... I was sure you were going to say something... I hope you'd just say what you had in mind. That's it! Matt hates me! He's not even speaking to me like he used to! _Mimi thought to herself silently as she followed Matt. _You know Matt, if you really hate me, don't hide it! At least just spill it out, so you don't leave me wondering what you're thinking... Great... I knew I should've cheered for the football team tonight. This is probably my worst date with a guy..._

Matt tried to slow down as he noticed that Mimi still wasn't catching up to him. _Mimi... I'm sorry. I know I still want to stay here tonight, and be with you, but I can't... I know you think that I'm just using you. Huh?! What did I just say?! Did I say that I wanted to be with Mimi?! _He stopped to wait for Mimi and thought for a moment. _What's wrong with me? I've never thought of Mimi THAT way before... what am I thinking?_

"Why'd you stop, Matt?" Mimi asked him.

"Umm... can you hurry?" Matt replied rather sharply without looking at her. "It's almost eleven. Your parents are expecting you to be home by then."

"Y-yeah..." she answered, avoiding his gaze. _Oh, I'm so right! Matt really hates me... He does. I know he does. He just proved it, _she thought sadly to herself.

__

Now what? Did I say something wrong? He asked himself. Matt studied Mimi for a while. She stood there looking on the ground quietly. Matt looked at her lips. It seemed like the perfect time to make the move. To reach those pink lips of Mimi's... but somehow something was stopping him. He just couldn't do it. _Tai's right. Maybe I AM just using Mimi. No matter how badly I want to kiss Mimi, it's still wrong. It's wrong because I'd only kiss her just to win the bet, right? O-or... is it because... because I actually... like her?_

"M-Matt do you..." Mimi's voice suddenly trailed off when she noticed Matt slowly coming closer to her. "M-Matt...?" she said nervously.

Matt just couldn't resist it. He slowly wrapped his arms around Mimi. He leaned forward and finally reached Mimi's lips. Her soft lips finally against him, Mimi couldn't believe it herself. They were actually kissing! It wasn't just a normal kiss. It was so passionate that their hearts were both beating so fast.

__

Matt likes me... he doesn't hate me... Mimi thought as she kissed him back gently. 

Behind the bushes, Erica watched the two. She once again had another rumor to spread at school on Monday.

* * *

TO BE CONTINUED

__

AUTHOR'S NOTES: Aarrgh! I messed up! The kissing scene wasn't supposed to happen yet! But I just added it here so the story would work out. Hope you guys still liked this part though. ^_^;

   [1]: mailto:mimiblossomsmt@yahoo.com
   [2]: mailto:aeris_15@yahoo.com



	3. Default Chapter Title

****

Pink and Green

__

By Mimi Blossoms (aka Aeris_15)

PART THREE:

Matt suddenly pulled away from Mimi in shock.

Mimi looked even shocker and turned to him in confusion. Matt, blushing, slowly took a step back from her.

"I-I'm sorry..." he whispered, avoiding her gaze.

Mimi didn't say anything. Her heart wanted to stop. She felt very awkward now that Matt had kissed her like that. She really wasn't expecting that to happen. It was too hard to believe that he'd actually do that. 

"Perhaps I should take you home," Matt told her in a polite manner.

She nodded reluctantly. Mimi and Matt then both turned around and gasped at the same time in surprised. Tai and Sora stood there both wearing huge smiles on their faces. Matt wished the ground would swallow him up. Did they see what happened?

Tai quickly punched Matt playfully. "Yo Matt! I didn't know you had it in ya!" he exclaimed.

"Had... w-what, Tai?" he stammered in nervousness.

Tai threw him a twenty-dollar bill, which Matt had caught easily. "There's my pay!"

Matt looked at the money in his hand and then to Tai and then to Mimi, then back to Tai again. "T-Tai... w-what's this for?" he asked, pretending he didn't know.

"Hey! Don't you remember? I dared you to make out with Mimi, right? And looks like you won! Congratulations, Matt! You're the man!" Tai reminded him.

"W-what bet?!" Matt pretended he didn't know. He quickly eyed Mimi. But unfortunately, Mimi had already gone off.

"Mimi?!" Matt called out in the darkness. 

"Where did she run off to?" Sora wondered.

Tai sighed. "It's about her dress again, I bet..." 

"I don't think so, Tai..." Sora said. "Something's wrong with Mimi..."

Tai eyed Matt. "Hey Matt, what's wrong with your girlfriend?"

Matt bit his lower lip, trying hard to hide his anger. 

"Yo Matt!" Tai pushed.

Suddenly Matt turned to Tai in anger. "This is ALL YOUR fault, Tai!" he yelled, pointing at him accusingly.

"Whoa! What are you talking about?!" Tai blinked at Matt.

Matt then threw the twenty-dollar bill back to Tai. "There's your money! I don't need it!"

"But hey, this was part of the deal!" Tai shot back.

"The deal's out, Tai!" Matt yelled as he stormed away from them.

Tai watched him disappeared into the darkness, wondering what made him change his mind. "Geez... what IS the real deal with him?" he asked more to himself.

"I'm worried more about Mimi..." Sora added silently.

* * *

"Oh Mimi's still at cheerleading practice?" Matt said over the receiver. "Thanks, Mrs. Tachikawa, I'll try again later..."

Matt hung up the phone. So Mimi was STILL at cheerleading practice? At Odaiba High School? On a Sunday? That was a white lie. Mimi usually had her cheerleading practice on weekdays, and her singing lessons on Saturdays. _Darn! This was all my fault... I never should've kissed her. _He lied down on his bed and stared at the ceiling. _She probably hates me now..._ He sat up on the bed and thought about what had happened on Friday.

__

Her kiss... I-I just can't forget that feeling. She actually kissed me back... did that mean anything? No way... she probably just got carried away...

Matt walked towards the window and looked outside. He just couldn't stop thinking about Mimi and what happened between them. It was so weird. All he could think of since Friday was Mimi. Mimi and Mimi.

Why did Tai have to ruin everything? Why did he have to come in and ruin their precious moment? Their first kiss? Why? 

__

So Mimi's at cheerleading practice, huh? Oh I don't believe that! That's it! I'm going to her house and confront her! Matt decided. He quickly grabbed his coat and put his shoes on and marched down outside.

__

I'm talking to you, Mimi, whether you like it or not! Matt muttered under his breath.

He jumped down the stairs, not thinking of anything else besides his destination to Mimi's house. Matt remembered Mimi's kiss again. It was such a perfect and romantic moment. He liked the feeling of her lips touching against his own lips. Her kiss was so passionate, so gentle, and so soft...

__

Stop it! Matt yelled at himself. He continued walking down the sidewalk. He had to forget what happened. He had to go and confront her right now! He then began pacing himself when he suddenly bumped into someone, hard. 

"Ow!" the girl screamed in surprised. 

__

Great... Matt muttered as he helped the girl with long black hair up. She somehow looked familiar.

"Sorry, are you okay?" Matt asked the black-haired girl.

The girl looked up at him and smiled. "Don't worry about it, Matt. I wasn't watching where I was going..."

He looked at the girl closely with a puzzled look. "Do I know you?" he asked her.

"My name is Erica," Erica extended her hand. Matt took her hand and shook it. "I'm so honored to finally meet you, Yamato Ishida. I'm in your Music class second block with Mr. Yoshizuki."

Matt looked at her in surprise. "W-wha...? And I didn't even know that?" he looked at Erica guiltily. "I'm sorry, Erica."

Erica giggled. "No biggie! I'm actually a big fan of you! Mr. Yoshizuki really likes the way you play your harmonica."

Matt turned red in embarrassment. "Oh... that..."

She nodded. "Yep! I play my own harmonica too! I wish I could play as good as you do, Yamato! I'll always be your number one fan!"

"Uh... that's great. I'm flattered..." Matt replied pathetically. He wasn't used to being the center of attention. 

"By the way, the year play for this year is Cinderella. Everyone is talking about it! You should audition to be the prince too! I think I'm gonna try out Cinderella myself..." Erica blabbed. "You should consider acting for the play. It's a musical play, actually, so they have to find a Cinderella that could really sing."

__

She talks too much... kinda like Mimi... wait... Mimi? He suddenly remembered where he was going. "Um, it's nice meeting you too, Erica, but I really don't have time to stop and talk..."

"Where are you going, by the way?" Erica asked.

"I'm going over to my friend's house," he answered, turning away.

"Who's friend?" she continued to ask.

Matt started to walk away. "Just a girl!" he called back.

Erica watched Matt in disappointment. She knew exactly where he was heading off. She lowered her gaze and sighed sadly. _He doesn't even know that I'm Mimi's friend... that means... he didn't even notice me, not to mention remembered me! _She thought angrily.

* * *

Mimi was sitting at a bench just outside her house. She had just finished picking flowers to decorate her bedroom. The garden was wide and airy. Many flowers, especially pink flowers, bloomed along the sidewalks, and healthy vines rolled themselves along the gate. She held the pink carnations in her hands now, sniffing on it, and at the same time thinking about him.

She couldn't stop thinking about Matt ever since Friday night. Mimi recalled the moment when Matt had suddenly stopped kissing her and had pulled away from her. It had startled her and scared her. _Maybe I should tell Matt that we shouldn't see each other anymore. I feel... totally weird about this whole thing. I mean I have never ever thought about Matt THAT way before. Yes, I know he's hot and everything, but he's only a friend. A friend. Friend. Just a friend..._ she sighed and suddenly felt an exciting feeling rushing through her when she remembered his kiss. _But what if I want more than that..._

She then thought about the time when Tai and Sora showed up and saw them. _I can't believe he only kissed me just to get twenty-bucks! I'm worth more than that! What a jerk! I... it's not fair! He had no right to kiss someone just to get something. I felt as if I've been betrayed by a friend... it wasn't just him; it was Tai as well!_ Her eyes almost watered. She quickly wiped them off and thought about Matt again. She really liked his kiss. "Mimi?"

She slowly looked up and almost jumped. "Matt!"

A hot blonde guy's blue eyes stared back at her. "Mimi... h-hi..." he greeted silently.

"What are you doing here?" Mimi asked.

"I'm sorry, but your gate was open, so I let myself in," he replied.

"You could've just shouted my name first!" Mimi told him sharply, her arms crossed, and quickly turning away from him.

"Come on, Mimi. It's just me! And besides we need to talk!" Matt said.

"There's no need for us to talk, Matt!" Mimi argued. 

"Please Mimi, I have to explain—"

"EXPLAIN what?!" Mimi cried. "I understood what happened! I'm not stupid! You and Tai made a bet! He'd dared you to make out with me for money! And you actually did it! Just what do you think I am?! A prize to be won?! I'm sorry, Ishida, but I'm worth more than that!"

Matt lowered his gaze on the ground, with a guilty feeling. "I-I'm sorry you think that way... but it's not what it seems..."

"And I don't want anything from you, Matt! I want NOTHING to do with you!" she exclaimed in anger.

Matt didn't say anything for a moment, thinking of something clever to say. "Mimi, if you didn't know yet, I STILL happen to be your boyfriend," Matt said firmly. He knew what he was saying was risky, but he thought it was worth a shot.

Mimi suddenly stared at him. She considered for a while. Yes... they were partly going out, right? He was the one who had asked her out on a date. So that means that they're a couple? But... she then remembered about the bet and her fury only rose. 

"Won't you listen to me?" he pleaded.

"Save your breath, because I won't! Period!" Mimi then stormed away from him and ran back inside her house.

* * *

Matt silently walked to his locker on Monday morning, looking glum. He was still upset about his argument with Mimi last night. It had been a bad conversation, and he wished that it had never happened. Now he knew that Mimi didn't like him at all. He wished that he hadn't bothered going over to her house. He should've known that Mimi wouldn't have given him a chance to explain. She had always been that type of girl.

"Hey Matt," someone tapped him on his shoulder.

He turned to look and saw another mirror image of him. His name was Kenji, but everyone calls him Ken. He was on the school's football team. He had the same blue eyes and blonde hair as him, and they almost looked alike. Ken could be a nice guy, easy to talk to, but he could also be very demanding and sometimes a show off, who hungered for being the center of attention.

"Ken, what are you doing?" Matt asked in a grumpy voice.

Ken chuckled. "I heard what happened between you and Tachikawa... I'm really sorry, man. I hope you're okay that Mimi broke up with you... You see, at first I didn't know that you and Mimi were actually... uh, you know..."

Matt suddenly slammed his locker closed. "What did you say?!" he asked.

Ken took a step back in surprised. He wasn't expecting Matt to react like this. "Uh, I'm sorry she dumped you! I mean... uh..."

"_She_ DUMPED me?!" Matt echoed in disbelief. "Look Ken, how can she dump me when we didn't even go out yet?"

Ken only blinked in confusion. "B-but that's what I heard—"

"It doesn't matter what you heard! You heard wrong!" Matt answered. This rumor had to stop. "Mimi and I are just childhood friends. It was nothing more than that. And even if we did go out, it's STILL none of your business!"

"I'm sorry, Matt..."

"Leave us alone, Ken! You know those rumors aren't true!" Matt yelled as Ken quickly nodded his head and went off.

__

What the heck is going on? Obviously somebody had planted this STUPID rumor around. Who else? Tai did it! How dare he?

"Hi Matt!" Erica greeted with a smile. She was obviously in a good mood.

"What?" Matt asked. He was not in the mood for another chat.

"Hey cheer up," Erica told him. 

Matt glared at her. "There is NOTHING to be cheerful about!" he yelled.

Erica looked stunned at his reaction that she took a step back. Matt's face slowly turned serious and eyed her apologetically. 

"Sorry, Erica," Matt said as he lowered his gaze. "I didn't mean to yell at you."

"That's okay," she whispered.

"Anyway, do you wanna walk with me to Music class?" Matt offered.

Erica looked at him in excitement. She couldn't believe that Matt had actually offered her to walk with him. "Uh, sure... I guess..."

"Cool. Let's go then," Matt led the way down the hallway.

The two walked in silence together. Erica still couldn't believe that she was actually walking WITH Matt Ishida! She had this major crush on him ever since she saw him on the bus. But on that same day, she saw him with her own best friend as well. She didn't know that Mimi knew him, but who cares? Matt probably didn't like Mimi at all. After all, he was just forced to go out with Mimi in the first place, right? Besides, Erica knew that she liked Matt before Mimi did. But did Matt like Erica? _I'll make him! _Erica thought to herself.

She turned to look at Matt who had been walking quietly beside him. Of course, she did a pretty good job when she had planted that rumor about him and Mimi. She was very proud of her dirty work. It was another job well done by Erica. "Um, Matt, remember that Cinderella play I told you about last night?" she asked.

"Yeah, what about it?" Matt asked without interest.

"I was just wondering if you want to audition with me after school," Erica offered. 

"Why would I wanna be part of that dumb play?" Matt replied, trying hard to get out of the subject.

__

It's not a dumb play! Erica thought angrily, but she only giggled and pretended that she took it as a joke. "Hey, it's not dumb! At least it's not as corny as Romeo and Juliet!"

Matt stopped and turned to her. "Yeah, whatever..." he answered lazily.

"Come on, Matt! It'll be fun!" Erica exclaimed.

Matt rolled his eyes. _Great... this is just great! _He said in his mind.

* * *

Mimi sat down on the couch at the student lounge, reading a book. But she couldn't even understand what she was reading, because she was still thinking about Matt. She thought about how she had yelled at him last night. Perhaps she had been a little too harsh on him. Now she felt nothing but guilt. How could she have yelled at him like that? And why? Matt was just trying to make up with her.

She tried to make herself comfortable. Now all she wanted was to see Matt. She just wanted to see him... again. And this time, she didn't want to argue with him anymore.

"Mimi?"

Mimi looked up and found Joe. Finally, she could talk to someone! If there was someone she could rely on, it was definitely Joe.

"Hi Joe," she replied with a tiny smile as she put her book down on her lap.

Joe took a seat beside her and looked at her seriously. "Tell me something, will ya, Mimi?" he began.

Mimi raised an eyebrow. "What is it?"

Joe took a deep breath before he began. "Look, you know, actually I'm not sure if you do, but... there's this big rumor going around the school about you and Matt."

Mimi jumped up and turned at him confusedly. "What did you say?!"

"Let me explain," Joe said. "Did you and Matt go out on a date on Friday night?"

"Y-yes... h-how did you know?"

"Did you dump him last night?" he asked.

"WHA—" Now Mimi was shocker than ever. Whoever dared start this nasty rumor?

"Now calm down," Joe assured her calmly. "I know this is probably not true, because I also heard that Matt only used you for money. Now I believe that Matt wouldn't do that. If he did, I just would not believe that he'd actually do that to you, Mimi."

Mimi made a fist. Now her anger returned once again. She didn't want to see Matt anymore! What for?

"So it's true then! Matt is nothing but a big time jerk!" Mimi cried.

"Mimi! He's not like that!" Joe tried to calm her down. "And besides, this is only a rumor! You don't happen to believe this rumor, do you?"

"Well, more than half of the rumor is true!" Mimi shot back. "It's true that I went out with him on Friday. It's true that he used me for money. Everything is true with the exception of the part that I dumped him!" Mimi began to think for a moment. How could Matt even start this rumor? He wasn't the type to do that. Would Tai have done that? And Sora? No not Sora, not her for sure. But Tai? Would he? Nah. Then who else?

Someone tapping her on the shoulder then interrupted Mimi.

"Joe! I'm analyzing!" Mimi exclaimed, copying Izzy as she turned around. 

"What?" Joe asked looking confused. He was still sitting down on the couch when Mimi had turned to him.

"Didn't you just tap me on my shoulder?" she asked, her hands on her hips.

"Look behind you," Joe replied.

When she did, she only found Ken, the football player.

"Oh, it's just you," Mimi teased.

"It's just me?! Hey! How can you say that?!" Ken said with a smile.

Mimi ignored him and continued to think.

"Yo, Mimi! What are you doing?" Ken asked.

"Can't you see? I'm analyzing what is causing this problem. I have to figure out a logical reason for this." Mimi tried imitating Izzy again.

"Stop it, Mimi!" Joe said laughing at her. "You're trying too hard! You don't even make any sense!"

Mimi eyed Joe. "If you could just silent yourself, and stop being noisy, then I could find a solution for this stupid problem, Joe!"

"What did you say?! HAHAHAHAHA!" Joe laughed.

"Okay, so I don't talk logically! So what?!" Mimi cried.

Joe finally stopped laughing. "At least you didn't use the word 'prodigious'." 

Mimi sighed sadly and looked at the ground. "I can't stand this anymore! I have to talk to Matt!"

Joe's expression suddenly turned serious. He stood up and eyed Mimi with concern. "Don't worry, Mimi. I'll go talk to him."

Mimi looked up at him, her eyes shining. "R-really, Joe?! Can you, please?!"

He nodded. "Sure, I will. What are friends for?"

"Thank you, Joe!" Mimi replied.

"I'm on my way then," Joe said as he began walking away, his eyes still on Mimi as he waved at her. "I'll let you know what happen later!"

"Goodluck!" Mimi waved back at him. She then noticed three girls walking to his direction. "Hey Joe! Watch out!"

"What?" Joe called back, without eyeing where he was going.

But Mimi was too late with her warning. All she could do was watch was Joe stumbled upon the three girls who were all in her cheerleading team. _Oopsie, not my fault. He wasn't watching where he was going, _she thought.

"Watch where you're going!" one girl screamed at him.

"Sorry! I'm so sorry! I'm REALLY sorry!" Joe apologized quickly.

"It's okay! Just leave us alone!" another girl said.

"SORRY! Really, I am!" Joe said, standing up, and running away from the three girls.

Mimi and Ken watched as the three girls laughed as they walked away.

"Ha, ha, what a dork!" the third girl exclaimed.

As they passed by Mimi and Ken, all three girls chanted a cheer for Ken and they giggled as they disappeared down the hallway.

"Hey Mimi, you didn't show up at the game on Friday, did you?" Ken said. "You were supposed to cheer on us, but NO, you decided to go out with Ishida instead!"

Mimi gave him a scowl. "So you KNEW about me and Matt, huh? Just who on earth told you that?"

"Well... um..." Ken stammered. "Actually... I just heard this from a group of people that I don't know..."

Mimi grabbed his collar and pulled him so close, just inches away, to her face. "You better tell me who told you that at once, Kenji!"

"Mimi! Really, I don't know!" Ken exclaimed, trying hard to get away from her.

Suddenly another group of girls walked passed them.

"Hey, Mina, did you hear about that Cinderella play?" one girl asked.

The girl who claimed to be Mina looked somehow excited. "Yes, I heard about it. It's going to be a musical play, so they're looking for a Cinderella who can really sing. It must be hard to get the Cinderella part. I think I might try the fairy godmother. She doesn't do that much singing. What about you Sassy?"

Sassy giggled. "Oh I don't know yet! I don't want to be one of the three ugly sisters!"

Mina and Sassy both giggled as they disappeared down the hallway. Mimi, who had been listening, suddenly let go of Ken's collar. Ken landed on the floor like a pancake.

"Ow!" Ken exclaimed.

Mimi didn't hear him and stared to where Mina and Sassy had disappeared. "Oh man! A musical play! I can't wait to be part of this!"

"Did you really have to throw me so hard?" Ken complained, as he slowly got up.

Mimi turned to him. "Didn't you just hear what those girls were talking about, Ken?"

"You mean about the play?"

"Yes! Oh it'll be so cool to be Cinderella!"

"I could be the prince!" Ken suggested.

Mimi looked at him disgust. "You? Be my prince? No way!"

"Oh, RIGHT. You want Ishida to be your prince, am I right?"

Mimi's face turned bright red, and she looked at him in anger. "So what?! Leave us alone, Ken!"

* * *

During lunchtime, Joe had been walking around for ten minutes, trying to find Matt. He still couldn't find him. He checked his locker, but he wasn't there. He was in the boy's bathroom, but he wasn't there, nor in the cafeteria, and the lounge. Where could he possibly be?

Joe then decided to check outside the building. He walked along the sidewalk. It seemed as if he had been walking for hours, but he had only been walking for two minutes when he found himself standing in the middle of the soccer field.

"What the—" Joe looked around, trying to figure out how he got there.

"Look out, Joe!" Tai yelled.

"Huh?!" Joe looked at Tai who was running rapidly to his direction. He only smiled at him. "Oh Tai! Hi! Great to see you back on the field again!"

Then Sora came running from behind Tai. "Joe! Get out of here!"

Before he could answer, he felt something hard that hit his face with a bang. The soccer ball bounced off of Joe's head and landed on the green grass.

"Ow!" Joe yelled as he kneeled on his knees, and covered his face with his hands.

His glasses had fallen on the ground as well. Tai and Sora with the rest of the soccer team following them, went quickly to the injured Joe.

"Hey Joe! Are you okay?" Sora asked.

"I told you to watch it!" Tai said.

Joe sat down and tapped on the ground as if he was looking for something. "Oh man! Why does this always have to happen to me? My glasses! Where are they?"

Sora picked up Joe's pair of glasses and handed it to him. "Here, Joe. Be careful next time."

Joe then put his glasses back on and stood up and faced them.

"What are you doing here Joe?" Tai asked.

"Oh, sorry to spoil your game!" Joe said sarcastically. "I was just looking for Matt. Have you seen him around?"

"No, we don't even see each other in school," Tai replied. "Is something wrong?"

* * *

Matt wondered why he was still here. He was sitting with Erica, who had insisted that he should audition for the play. They were now seated in the waiting room of the school's auditorium. Matt sighed. He had never been so bored in his life. Erica who seemed to have sensed his mood turned to him.

"Don't worry, Matt. It wouldn't be that bad!" Erica said. "We're in this together!"

__

Just what I need, he sighed. He had this temptation to escape, but somehow his conscience didn't let him.

Two girls, Mina and Sassy, entered the auditorium and sat a row ahead from them.

"Hey Mina!" Erica greeted.

Mina turned around and smiled a little at Erica. "Hey, Erica, so where's your cheerleader friend, huh?" she asked.

"Mina!" Sassy gave her a look.

"I'm sure she'll be here," Erica replied. "She obviously wouldn't miss something big like this."

Sassy glanced at Matt and whispered to Mina, "Hey Mina, who's the hottie?"

Mina glared at her. "Quiet! He might hear us!"

__

Argh, someone get me out of here, Matt felt as if he was trapped in a cage. He had to get out. He knew that his conscience was telling him the opposite thing, but he just couldn't stand all this wait anymore. Matt suddenly got up, which made the three girls look up.

"Uh, I just forgot to get something from my locker," Matt lied.

Erica got up as well. "Oh okay, I'll come with you!"

"No!" he screamed.

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"Er, I mean, no, I'll be quick," Matt said as he went off.

He was running to the door when he bumped into someone big. Matt looked up and found Mr. Yoshizuki.

"Oh hi!" Matt exclaimed nervously.

"Matt, are you here to audition for the prince?" Mr. Yoshizuki quickly asked.

Matt hesitated and scratched his head. "Well... uh... not really, but I..."

"Great! You're in!"

"Wha... already?!" he exclaimed in surprise.

The teacher nodded. "You heard me." Yoshizuki pushed his glasses up. He then turned to the door and looked back at him. "I'll be back. I have to find the right Cinderella for you!"

* * *

"Mimi! Where are you going?" Ken called.

"I'm auditioning, what else?" Mimi answered.

She was about to open the door to the auditorium when Mr. Yoshizuki suddenly opened the door.

"Oh, hi, good afternoon, Mr. Yoshizuki," Mimi bowed with respect as she greeted the teacher.

Mr. Yoshizuki was about in his early thirties. He was about five foot ten inches tall. 

"Mimi, are you interested to audition for the play?" Mr. Yoshizuki quickly asked her.

Mimi looked like she was about to scream. "Oh y-yyyeeess! Of course, Mr. Yoshizuki! I really want to be part of the play!"

The teacher chuckled. "You've always been a good singer, Mimi. Why don't you play Cinderella for this year's year play?"

Mimi gasped. Not because she was scared, it was because she was already accepted! Already! Without even auditioning! "Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! This is so exciting! Of course, Mr. Yoshizuki, I'll take the part!"

Before Mr. Yoshizuki could answer, Ken cleared his throat.

"Oh Kenji, you're here too?" 

Ken nodded with confidence. "Yes, and I supposed you're looking for a prince, right?"

"Well actually...." the teacher replied.

"You're looking at the prince of Odaiba High, Mr. Yoshi. I'm here! I'll take the role!" Ken said.

Mr. Yoshizuki only laughed. "Actually, we already have a prince, and besides you have no music background. Sorry!"

"Wha--?" Ken looked surprised. "But... the prince only has three or four lines in the play! I can handle it!"

Mr. Yoshizuki looked closely at Ken and then to Mimi. "Hmmm... let's see..." he looked at Ken and then at Mimi and then at Ken and then at Mimi. "No, not a good match. Sorry. You don't look good with Mimi, Ken, I'm sorry. I've already found someone else who looks perfect with Mimi."

"What! But that's not fair! Anyone who can act should be considered to be the prince!" Ken argued.

"Save your breath, Kenji, you and Mimi look like the worst couple," Mr. Yoshizuki said.

__

He got that right, Mimi agreed silently.

The door to the auditorium suddenly opened. Mr. Yoshizuki, Mimi, and Ken all turned to look. A cool guy with blonde hair stepped by the door. He seemed a bit reluctant to leave when he saw them.

"Oh... Matt... hi," Mimi stammered.

Matt scratched his head and closed the door. "Hi Mimi," he looked at the teacher. "Hello Mr. Yoshizuki... and..." he turned to the sorry football player. "Ken."

"Matt, I want you to meet someone," Mr. Yoshizuki told him.

"Great, this is just great! I wanted to be the prince!" Ken stubbornly complained.

"Shut up, Ken!" Mimi looked annoyed.

Mr. Yoshizuki looked at Mimi. "Mimi, come over here and stand beside Matt."

Mimi looked hesitant to go. "W-why?" she asked.

"No, I'll just stand beside her," Matt offered, as he quickly walked towards Mimi and stood beside her.

Mr. Yoshizuki eyed them together and he smiled in satisfaction. "This is perfect! You two are a perfect match!"

__

Yoshizuki's so weird, Mimi thought.

__

Perfect? What's perfect? Matt asked.

__

Geez, Yoshizuki kinda sounds like me, Ken thought.

"What do you mean 'this is perfect'?" Mimi asked.

"Mimi, I would like you meet your prince, Matt Ishida,"

Mimi gasped in surprised. "M-Matt?" 

"I'll leave you two alone now," Mr. Yoshizuki said. He then pulled Ken away with him.

When they were both out of earshot, Mimi quickly turned to Matt. She just couldn't believe that Matt was actually going to be part of the play!

Matt lowered his gaze on the ground. "I'm not surprised you got the lead part."

"I'm surprised you auditioned for this play," Mimi said. She eyed him carefully. _I wanna touch your hair, Matt... I want to be with you, but how can I if you really hate me? _Mimi thought silently.

Matt shrugged. "It's not because I want to. Mr. Yoshizuki insisted me I should act for the play..." Mimi could tell that there was a hint of coldness by the tone of his voice. Although there were both talking now, everything was still wasn't back to normal. She could tell that something wasn't right.

"S-so... that's why...." Mimi said silently. Matt seemed as if he was really hurt by what she had done to him.

"Yeah... I've never planned to be part of this," he told her. He then looked at her and smiled for the first time today. Mimi's heart melted. "Anyway, congratulations you got the lead part. I'm proud of you."

Mimi turned bright red. "Oh, thank you..."

Matt made a motion to leave. "Well, I have to go." He gazed at her. Mimi felt her heart dropping down to her stomach when he said that. "So, I guess I'll see you during rehearsals tomorrow, right?"

She nodded. "Uh... o-of course..."

"See ya," Matt said as he walked away.

"Later..." Mimi whispered more to herself.

__

Now Matt is mad at me! I hate myself! Why did this all have to happen to me? He's obviously trying to avoid the topic about what happened last night.... and the rumor... I don't know... I'm really sorry, Matt! I'm so sorry! Mimi could feel her eyes watering again as she ran down the empty hallway. She ran and ran. All she knew was that she just had to get away. She knew that running away like this wouldn't get her anywhere, but she felt like she was finally escaping from her problems and from the pain she felt.

She continued to run as quickly as her feet could take her. She felt the need to run away from everyone she knew. Everyone, especially Matt. Yes. Especially Matt Ishida. He didn't even say a word about the incident last night. He didn't even say a word about the rumor. He said nothing about what he felt with their kiss... and the play.... the play didn't even seem like a big deal to him. He had almost implied as if he was just forced to work with her by Yoshizuki. 

__

I hate Yoshizuki! I hate him! Why did he have to pick Matt to be my prince? Matt didn't even seem excited for his role. He should've just picked Ken! She then finally stopped running, and leaned on a locker. She had no idea where she was now. Mimi looked up and found that she was back to where she had started again. She found herself once again in front of the auditorium. Mimi banged her fist on the locker. _Matt! You don't know how I feel! I... think I really... l-like..._

"Mimi!" It was Sora.

Sora looked at her friend in concern. "Mimi, what's wrong?"

Mimi looked back her friend, tears streaming down her cheeks. "Oh Sora! I don't know what to do!" 

"It's okay, Mimi," Sora assured her. "What happened?"

"Sora... it's Matt..." she answered in between tears.

* * *

__

(AUTHOR'S NOTES: You're probably wondering why I put dollars instead of yen, right? This is because I'm not familiar with Japan's money, so just pretend that they use dollars instead of yen, okay? You do the converting... Twenty yen is equivalent to two cents in America. Thank to Kathy for clearing that up for me.)


	4. Default Chapter Title

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Pink and Green

By [Mimi Blossoms][1]

PART FOUR:

__

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Okay, before you start reading this chapter, I'm gonna bug you guys for a little while. You're probably groaning at this. But if you don't want to hear me yak, just skip this and go and ahead and start reading. I just want to apologize for the delay of posting this chapter. I was stuck... But I'd like to thank [_Little Orange Flower Faerie_][2]_ for helping me with this chapter. Thanks for your time! Your suggestion about the banana peel really helped! ^_^ Okay, this chapter may be sorta confusing for some of you. So in order to avoid any further confusion, this chapter is gonna be a little different from the last three chapters or parts rather. I've put subtitles just to sort out every event. It's still a bit confusing, but the subtitles might help. It's really boring at the beginning, but that boring part has to be there so the story would work out. ^_^ Ugh... this is probably the WORST chapter of the story. Whatever... Just keep on bugging me to make a sequel in case you guys aren't happy with the ending. This is the last chapter of Pink and Green._

* * *

****

Four weeks later...

After four long weeks of rehearsals and practice for the play, nothing had changed between Matt and Mimi. Matt had never ever said a word about the rumor, the bet, nor the kiss to Mimi. Sora had been very supportive to Mimi for the past weeks. Tai had tried to talk to Matt but he had seemed to be avoiding him at all times. Izzy had been busy a lot lately with his school work and his time with the computer club. Joe couldn't even contact Matt. Whenever Joe would approach Matt, it would always be the wrong time. In other words, someone--a black-haired freshman, Erica, always interrupted them. 

Erica walked silently. She did audition for the play alright, but unfortunately she didn't even get any part to play at all. Her only option had been to play the mother of the three ugly step-sisters. After rehearsing for just two days, she had already quit. But she actually volunteered for tonight to be one of the assistants for the play.

She stopped walking and approached the front door of Odaiba High School. She wouldn't let Mimi get away with this. Never! She had dreamed of playing Cinderella someday. But Mimi, her own friend, ruined everything. Erica didn't stop to think as she continued towards the school. She wasn't about to let Mimi get away with all of this. Not after all that she had been through.

Erica also thought about Matt. Ever since he got to play the prince, Matt had been distant lately. He never even talked to her at all in Music. As she kept thinking about the play in her head, the more she wanted to play as Cinderella.

She walked up the stairs, still in thought about the play, when she heard a familiar voice coming from above. Erica quickly hid behind a door. She knew who it was right away.

"No, thanks, Ken. I'm okay!" Erica heard Mimi scream from above.

Erica let her eyes wonder until she spotted a banana peel lying just beside the base of a garbage can. She didn't hesitate and picked up the peel from the ground. Tiptoeing up the stairs, Erica placed the peel on the third step of the stairs. Erica quickly walked back to her hiding place, and peek. Perhaps if Mimi breaks her ankle, she wouldn't be able to participate for the play tonight. Mimi was indeed on her way downstairs.

"Erica? What are you doing?"

Erica gasped and turned to look at Matt. "M-Matt?" she quickly straightened herself and acted as though she were innocent. "Nothing really!" she giggled in a phony way.

Matt only frowned and walked up the stairs.

"Hey wait!" Erica called to Matt. But it was too late.

Mimi had been humming a song when she stepped on the banana peel. Losing her balance, Mimi immediately stumbled. She was wearing her heels today so it was hard to keep balance. Mimi came rolling down the stairs. Matt quickly saw her. As Mimi continued to roll down, Matt came running and caught Mimi in his arms. 

"Oh my gosh! How embarrassing!" Mimi exclaimed, blushing, as she quickly pulled away from Matt's grasps. 

Matt picked up the banana peel sticking from Mimi's shoe. "I think I know why you fell." He told her firmly.

Mimi smiled at Matt. She smoothened out her uniform and continued down the stairs. "Thank you, Matt."

"Uh, sure..." Matt replied with a friendly nod and continued up the stairs.

Erica caught Mimi's gaze as she walked passed her. Erica couldn't take it anymore. Something had to be done now! Then she smiled to herself when she thought of something. When Mimi disappeared, Erica quickly followed Matt upstairs.

* * *

"I can't believe it! I should be the one playing as the prince, Yoshizuki!" Ken exclaimed as Matt entered his Music class.

Mr. Yoshizuki sat down on his desk and eyed Ken in annoyance. "Sit down, Kenji, before I give you a detention!"

Matt sighed and rolled his eyes. Everyday Ken would complain about it. Everyday. And Ken was always there to watch the rehearsals for the past four weeks. It's a wonder how Yoshizuki could still cope up with him. 

Mr. Yoshizuki smiled when he saw Matt. "Ishida, are you ready to perform for tonight?"

When Matt didn't answer, Ken said quickly, "I can always be the prince in case Matt quits! Right, Ishida?"

"Whatever..." Matt sighed. He took out his harmonica and placed it on his desk.

"Yamato, would you like to pass out the music sheets please?" Yoshizuki said.

Matt stood up and took the music sheets from Mr. Yoshizuki. Then Erica entered the class and sat on the empty desk beside Matt's. Matt walked towards Erica and handed her a music sheet.

"Thank you, Matt!" Erica said in a tiny high voice.

Matt raised an eyebrow but didn't answer. _Oh well..._ Erica thought. She then noticed Matt's shiny harmonica sitting on his desk. Erica quickly stole a glance at Matt's direction. When she was sure that Matt wasn't looking, Erica quickly grabbed the harmonica from his desk.

* * *

Mimi took a spoonful of her strawberry flavored yogurt. She was sitting at the cafeteria right now at lunch. Beside her, there was an empty seat, and that empty seat was the place for her expensive purse.

"Hi Mimi,"

Mimi looked up and was surprised to find Erica standing in front of her. She was holding a small plastic bag in her hand. She quickly rose to her feet and looked at her ex-best friend. "Oh... hi... Erica..." she muttered.

Erica lowered her gaze on the ground as if she was avoiding Mimi's steady gaze. "I know you probably hate me... after all what I did... I just want to say that..." She stopped and looked at her in the eye. "I want to say that I'm sorry. I didn't mean it... whatever I did to make you ignore me..."

"It doesn't matter. I don't care," Mimi replied, looking away from her.

Erica then extended her hand. "I want to wish you good luck for tonight."

Mimi then stared at Erica. She reluctantly accepted Erica's hand and shook it. "Thanks, I guess..."

Erica suddenly dropped her plastic bag on the ground. "Oops!" she exclaimed, taking her hand away from Mimi's. She made a rather nervous laugh. "Stupid me! I dropped my lunch..." 

She bent down and took her lunch that she had dropped on Mimi's purse's chair.

"Excuse me! Sorry about that, Mimi!" Erica said quickly when she finally picked up her lunch. Mimi watched as Erica flew away from her quickly.

__

Strange... what IS up with her? Mimi asked herself silently.

* * *

Matt didn't want to talk to anybody at all. He didn't want to see anyone at all. He silently walked to the crowded and noisy cafeteria. He was mad. He lost his harmonica. He couldn't even remember the last place where he was when he lost it. He didn't even remember anything at all. It just disappeared somehow.

He continued to walk until he spotted Mimi sitting by herself. He was about to join her when Joe suddenly came up to her and sat across from Mimi. Matt sighed and started to walk away when he heard somebody yelling his name. Matt turned to look and saw Joe waving for him to come.

Matt sighed and agreed and approached Mimi and Joe's table.

"Hi guys..." Matt said in a soft voice.

"Mimi and I were just talking about the play for tonight," Joe said to him. "I hope you guys perform well!"

Matt managed a tiny smile. He really wasn't in the right mood to talk about the play he and Mimi were in. He looked down and thought he saw something shiny inside Mimi's purse. Matt's eyebrows furrowed and he looked at his harmonica in shocked. His pride possession was inside Mimi's purse! But how in the world did it find its way there? Mimi would never do such a thing! Could she have possibly stolen his harmonica? But why?

"Earth to Matt!" Mimi called out.

Matt turned to Mimi and scowled. "How could you do this to me, Mimi?! Why?!" Matt shouted.

"H-huh... do what?" Mimi looked taken aback.

"Matt! What are you talking about?" Joe asked, quickly defending innocent Mimi. "Don't yell at Mimi!"

"Stay out of this, Joe!" Matt yelled.

Mimi looked like she was about to cry when she realized that Matt was seriously angry. "M-Matt... w-why are you yelling at me like this? Why are you so mad?" Mimi's tears streamed down her cheeks. She really didn't know why Matt was suddenly yelling like that. Just a second ago, he was acting like a good friend, but now...

Matt lowered his gaze, a guilty feeling inside him. He was about to apologize, but somehow nothing came out of his mouth. He quickly walked away without a word.

"Fine! Be that way!" Mimi cried as Matt disappeared. 

"Mimi, are you okay?" Joe asked in concern.

"No I'm not!" Mimi yelled in between sobs. She then stormed out of the cafeteria as well, following Matt's direction.

"H-hey wait!" Joe called, running to follow her.

Ken watched Joe running after Mimi and just shook his head. _Poor Joe... that guy would never get a chance with Mimi. Hey, what am I saying even I couldn't even get a chance with Mimi! _He watched as Joe once again bumped into another group of girls. _But it seemed as if Mimi likes that nerd more than me! Me! When I'm the popular one here! Joe and Mimi seemed pretty close... But that Yamato... ugh! What's with him? _Ken squinted when he saw something on a chair. He quickly ran up and noticed that it was Mimi's purse. Inside he noticed Matt's harmonica._ I see what the problem is, _he thought.

Ken suddenly smiled when he thought of something. _Ha ha! Matt has Chemistry with me after this! _Ken said inside his head. The bell rang, indicating that lunchtime was over. Ken grabbed Mimi's purse and quickly ran up the stairs. He ran and ran until he finally reached the chemistry lab. 

He had a lot of ideas popping out of his mind. 

"Ken, you're early today!" one of the girls from his Chemistry class, Mina, implied.

"Don't rub it in!" Ken replied as he squished Mimi's purse in his knapsack.

Mina looked suspiciously at Ken. "What are you up to now?" she asked.

"Nothing," he answered.

Many other students came in, including Tai and Sora. The two had both changed their schedule so that they could be in the same class. They weren't in Matt's Chemistry class before, but since the principal could accommodate them for this class, they had agreed to choose Mr. Seto's Chemistry class.

"Sora! I'm picking you up tonight, right?" Tai asked her.

Sora smiled at him. "Of course, Tai."

Tai sat closely beside Sora. He was about to lean forward when Gina arrived. "Get a room!" Gina yelled at the couple.

Tai quickly pulled away from Sora in surprised. "Gina!"

Gina only rolled her eyes. "Oh. Sor_ry_!" she stated sarcastically.

It wasn't that long when Matt arrived as well.

"Hi Matt," Sora greeted as he walked passed her.

Matt didn't reply. He slowly headed for his own desk. He still wasn't over with what happened at lunchtime at the cafeteria. He sat and watched Mr. Seto with his long boring lecture about organic chemistry. He wasn't even paying anymore attention. He could see Mr. Seto teaching them, but he couldn't hear what he was saying. Matt thought about Mimi and how he had yelled at her like that earlier. It wasn't right. That wasn't very gentle. That was really harsh.

"Yamato!"

Matt quickly looked up. He noticed that everyone in class was looking at him strangely. Matt could feel his face turning red.

"I think you just woke him up, Mr. Seto," Mina said, looking at Matt with a smile.

__

This girl always likes to rub it in, Matt thought to himself in embarrassment.

He heard Ken laughing. "Matt! Why don't you answer his question?!" he said.

Matt groaned and stared at his notes.

"Would you like me to repeat my question, Yamato?" Mr. Seto offered.

"Sure, I guess..." Matt replied lazily.

Before Seto could answer, the bell rang to end the class.

"Woo-hoo! Save by the bell!" Ken exclaimed as he stood up, wearing his knapsack. He walked up to Matt, who busied himself as he packed his stuff.

"Well, well, here's Cinderella's prince!" Ken said sarcastically, trying to annoy him.

Matt sighed and glared back at him. "Are you trying to be a pest?" he asked.

Ken laughed. "Me? A pest?! No way!"

Matt shook his head. "Got anything better to do, Ken?"

"What's your problem man?" Ken asked. "Are you trying to keep your cool? I know you're mad!"

When Matt finally finished with his packing, he looked at the door and saw Mimi coming in. _Oh that's right Mimi has Chemistry after me..._ Matt thought to himself. 

"Get out of my way," Matt said firmly to Ken. When Ken saw Matt's expression, he quickly moved away. 

Mimi stood by the door and she watched as Matt started heading towards her. Mimi quickly stepped in front of Matt. "Matt! I-I'm really... sorry..." she stammered.

Matt nodded. "Forget it!" he replied back harshly and left.

"Yo Ken!" It was Mina.

"What?" Ken asked.

"Can I borrow your Physics text book?" she asked politely.

"Well... sure!" Ken replied. He placed his knapsack on Matt's desk, and opened up his knapsack again. _Man, look how messy I am! _Ken thought as he rummaged through his stuff. His bag was in fact very full that he had to take out everything he got. His three-inched- binders, his books, his socks. Even including Mimi's purse that he dropped on the floor, which he didn't notice.

"Huh? Tai wait..." Sora stopped him. They were already about to leave when Sora saw something from Ken's bag.

"What is it, Sora?" Tai asked, looking at her.

But Sora was only watching Ken. _Just what is Ken doing with Mimi's purse anyway? _Sora asked herself. Tai studied her for a moment, still confused. 

"Sora, what's the matter?" Tai asked.

"Thanks Ken!" Mina exclaimed, quickly leaving the classroom.

"Sure!" Ken called out. He gave a quick glance at Sora and Tai before he ran out of the lab. 

Sora then ran up to Matt's desk where on the floor lied Mimi's purse. She bent down and picked it up. "I knew it! This really looks familiar. This is Mimi's purse!" Sora said to Tai.

Tai frowned. "Huh? But what's Ken doing with that?"

Sora looked at him carefully. "That's what I wanna find out. Come on!"

* * *

****

A Cinderella Night...

Mimi sighed as she fixed her costume for the fourth time. She was waiting in the dressing room with the other actresses for the play. They only had about twenty minutes before the show begins. She studied herself at the mirror and fixed her long strand of mahogany hair. She was in a bad mood. It wasn't right. It wasn't right that she felt like this before her show. It just didn't feel right because... because Matt, her prince, was still mad at her. And besides that, she forgot her purse in the cafeteria that day. When Mimi had returned to look for it, it was already gone. Fortunately, she only had her make-up and lunch in there. It was a good thing that she had her wallet in her pocket.

"Hey Mimi," it was Sassy. She was one of the actresses who got the part as one of the three ugly sisters. Although Sassy wasn't very happy with the role she got, she was pretty satisfied that she got a part at least. "Are you ready for the big night?"

Mimi tried to smile, but even with her little smile was no mask to hide her sadness. "Sure..." she whispered.

Sassy studied Mimi's costume. "Oh look! Let me fix that button." Sassy offered as she bent down and buttoned Mimi's costume.

"Thanks Sassy," Mimi replied blankly.

Sassy seemed to sense Mimi's mood that she looked at her more closely. "Mimi, what's the matter?"

"Nothing!" she answered, standing up quickly. "Come on. Everyone's waiting!"

They left the dressing room and found their drama and music instructor, Mr. Yoshizuki, speaking with the popular jock, Ken.

"What do you mean Matt is not gonna show up?!" Mr. Yoshizuki yelled at him.

"I'm sorry, Yoshi, but he said that he didn't want to be part of this stupid play anymore," Ken replied. "So... if I were you, you'd better decide who you want to play the prince as..."

"What IS going on here?!" Mimi screamed running up to them.

"Mimi?" Yoshizuki looked at her.

Mimi quickly ran up to Ken. "What do you mean 'he didn't want to be part of this stupid play'? Huh?! What do you mean by that?!" she couldn't take it anymore. She had waited so long for this night to come, and Matt only blew it. This wasn't what she had been expected to come out at all! Mimi grabbed Ken by his collar again and glared at him. "Are you telling me that Matt chickened out?!"

"Mimi, please let me explain! If you could just let go of me..."

Mimi suddenly let go of him, causing Ken to land flat on his bum. "Put a sock in it! I won't hear it anymore!"

"But Mr. Yoshizuki, what are we gonna do if Matt doesn't show up? Who's gonna play the prince?" Sassy asked in a worried tone.

Mimi quickly turned to him expecting a good answer. Mr. Yoshizuki scratched his head. He really didn't know how to answer that one. "I... well... I really don't know what to do, Sassy..."

Mimi looked like she was about to cry again. "This can't be happening! Matt IS gonna show up in any second now! We'll wait for him, right Mr. Yoshizuki?"

The teacher, however, was afraid to answer.

"RIGHT?!" Mimi pushed once again. "Come ON! Answer me!"

Ken slowly got up. "I can always take over..."

"Shut up, Ken! We're NOT talking to you!" Mimi yelled at him.

"Whoa, cool it, Cinderella. It was only a suggestion!" Ken shot back.

"Enough Ken! We'll wait ten minutes for Matt!" Mr. Yoshizuki said.

Mimi sighed and looked down. _Oh Matt... please, you have to show up! You have to! _Mimi pleaded silently. 

"And if he doesn't show by then, we'll have to start the show," Mr. Yoshizuki concluded.

* * *

Matt sat all by himself in his bedroom. He knew that he was supposed to be acting for the play tonight, but he didn't feel like going anymore. It wasn't because he was too nervous or anything like that, it's just that he had too many things muddled up on his mind. He couldn't control his problems anymore. That's exactly what he felt right now.

__

Mimi, I... I'm sorry! Matt thought. _I can't believe I was such a jerk. I can't believe I acted like that. _He thought about how he had yelled at Mimi that morning. _I bet she's probably happy that I didn't show up at the play. _He glanced at his watch and noticed that the play had already started twenty minutes ago. _Oh well..._

A knock on his door suddenly interrupted Matt from his thoughts. The door opened and TK came barging in and looked at his brother in surprised.

"Matt! What are you still doing here? Don't you have to act for the Cinderella play at your school tonight?" he asked. TK himself was already to leave with their parents to watch the play. "Come on, Matt! This is the only time that Dad could watch you! Be happy that he took a day off just to watch you!"

TK was right. His dad usually worked late. He was a workaholic after all. And he was grateful enough to take a day off just to see the play he was supposed to perform in.

Matt rose to his feet and turned to his little brother. "TK, what are you still doing here? I thought you guys left a while ago!"

"Well, I left the flowers I was supposed to give to Mimi," TK replied. "Oh and by the way, do you think I could borrow your pager just for tonight?"

Matt nodded his head and sat back down on his bed. "Whatever... it's under my bed, I think."

TK bent down and picked up Matt's pager on the floor. "Man, you're so messy." TK commented.

TK then headed for the door. But he gave Matt another look and said, "By the way, Matt, Mimi is really great back there. I really love her voice. So you better hurry and go before your scene comes on! Mimi needs her prince!"

"What..." but TK was already out when Matt said that. _Mimi... I... I'm sorry..._

* * *

__

Oh man... I hope I convinced Matt to come to the play tonight, TK thought silently as he walked out of the house. He turned back but Matt was still nowhere in sight. TK sighed again and started to walked towards the car to where his Dad was waiting.

"Where is Matt?" Mr. Ishida asked him.

"Oh, he said he'll find a way to get there. He's not ready yet," TK lied.

"TK! Wait!" a voice called out.

TK looked around and found Joe running towards him.

"Joe! What are you doing here?" TK asked in surprised.

"G-got-ta... s-p-eak... to M-Matt!" Joe almost choked out. It was obvious that he had been running.

"Uh, I left the door open. He should be in his room right now," TK answered.

"Thanks!" Joe quickly answered as he quickly ran inside the house.

* * *

"Matt! Are you in there?! Matt!" a voice called out just outside Matt's room.

Matt thought that he heard that voice before. He opened the door to his bedroom and found who it was. Joe approached him, panting heavily, struggling to catch his own breath.

"Joe, are you okay?" Matt asked him. "What's up, man? And how did you get here?"

Joe took a deep breath before he answered. "I... I... I really need to talk to you!"

Matt frowned. "About what? Is there some kind of problem?"

Joe shook his head. "Well... actually, there is... I just need to get something straight..."

"What's wrong?" 

"I want to talk to you about Mimi..." Joe replied, looking at him carefully.

Matt then avoided Joe's gaze and sighed. He looked at the ground and stared at it. He didn't want to talk about Mimi... well, at least not yet. Not now. He had other things to think about. He shook his head and turned away from Joe and started to walk away, about to leave his bedroom.

"Hey, wait Matt! Don't leave yet!" Joe called out.

"Joe, please... I need to be alone," Matt answered, still walking away.

__

Oh great, how am I gonna explain this to Mimi? She was counting on me... Joe thought. He just couldn't give up now. He then followed behind Matt towards the kitchen.

"Matt, I believe that you know about the rumor going around between you and Mimi," Joe said. "And I don't blame you... because... it's not true... is it?"

"That was a long time ago, and what would you know anyway?" Matt replied coldly.

"Come on, Matt. Let's discuss this rationally, okay?" Joe told him. "I just want to help."

"I don't want or need your help, Joe," Matt said as he suddenly stopped. "Mimi doesn't like me... I know it."

Joe stopped as well, and stood behind Matt. "How can you be sure about that? Did she tell you that or what?"

Matt sighed. "She didn't have to tell me. It's so obvious. Mimi really hates me..." _after all what I've done..._

"Matt, let's not forget that she's your friend... our friend," Joe assured him. "We're all friends here. And you didn't even do anything that would make Mimi hate you so much."

Matt then suddenly turned around and faced Joe. "That's NOT true! I did something! I did! Look what I've done! I yelled at her this morning! I kissed her just so I could get my twenty bucks from Tai! I knew from the beginning that it was wrong and yet... I still..." his voice slowly lowered and he made a fist as he stared at the ground. Yelling at Joe wouldn't get him anywhere either.

Joe studied his friend. He wished that he could help, but he knew that Matt would have to do everything on his own. He smiled. "Think about it, Matt. Is that the only reason why you kissed her? Or is there more?"

Matt turned to Joe in surprised. "Huh?! You don't mean..."

"Think about it..." Joe told him with a smile. He then walked away, leaving Matt wondering on his own.

* * *

"Oh man, the whole play is ruined!" Tai stated. He was sitting beside Kari and Sora who had been watching the whole thing since the very beginning. Now the play was almost over... 

"I can't believe that they replaced Matt for Ken! Ken couldn't even get his lines right!" Kari added.

On the stage, Ken was acting as the prince. Sassy, who was one of the step-sisters walked up to the prince to present herself. Sassy bowed in respect at the prince.

"Nice dress, Sassy!" Ken commented aloud.

The whole audience laughed at his comment. Sassy glared at Ken in anger. _Man, this jerk really does know how to screw up! _Sassy thought. She was very aware that she wasn't supposed to say anything and yet she did.

"Thank YOU, Ken!" Sassy replied with a hint of sarcasm. She then ran back to the right of the stage and exit.

Sassy found Mimi at the very corner all by herself, sobbing. Sassy felt sorry for her that she quickly ran up to Mimi.

"Oh Mimi, are you all right?" Sassy asked.

Mimi looked up at Sassy. Mimi was now wearing the very beautiful Cinderella gown. It was exactly like the dress that Cinderella wore from the movie. Only this one was pink rather than blue. Sassy nearly gasped when she saw the puffed-eyed Mimi. She didn't think that she was crying _this _hard.

"Mimi, don't cry. You're almost up soon," Sassy told her gently.

"Ken ruined the whole play! It's not fair! Matt should've been here!" Mimi cried.

Sassy scratched her head. She really didn't know what to say. "Well, it's almost over..."

Mimi wiped her tears away. "I'm sorry, Sassy. Don't worry about me... I'm such a baby crying like this."

"You're up, Mimi!" one of the assistants called out.

"Goodluck, Mimi!" Sassy called out.

Mimi then entered the stage as Cinderella.

Ken who was standing on the other side of the stage quickly turned to Cinderella. "Oh there's my Cinderella!" he exclaimed, pointing quickly at Mimi.

The audience looked confused. "What? How did the prince know her name?" one person wondered.

"I think he needs more practice with his lines," the other commented.

Mimi, as Cinderella, looked at the stupid prince in disgust. _This is NOT happening to me! _She thought angrily as she watched Ken walking to her direction. He was only about a meter close to her when somebody threw an orange peel on the stage. It landed just on top of Ken's head. Mimi tried not to laugh, but it was hard because the whole audience was already laughing.

"Get out of there!" one of the people shouted. "You're the worst prince ever!"

Mimi couldn't hold her laugh any longer that she started to laugh as well. Ken eyed the audience and gave them a long glare. He quickly took off the orange peel that had been sitting on his head.

"What a loser!" somebody shouted, and at the same time throwing another orange peel on the stage.

"Get out of there you dork!" another one added.

Tai, who was part of the audience, stood up and raised up his arms. "We don't want you there, Ken! We want the real prince! We want Matt!"

Sora and Kari looked at each other, both embarrassed by his action. 

Sora scratched her head. "Just pretend we don't know him, okay?" she suggested to his sister.

* * *

"Oh man, my whole show is ruined!" Mr. Yoshizuki exclaimed in disappointment as he watched the scene going ballistic. He was just sitting with the other participants of the play, waiting for the whole scene to end.

Erica walked behind the teacher. "I'm really sorry about this play, Mr. Yoshizuki..." she whispered in silence. "I'm sorry it didn't turn out the way you want it."

Mr. Yoshizuki looked at his student and smiled. "Don't be sorry. It's not your fault..."

"I-I know... but..." she stuttered. She had been thinking a lot about her friendship with Mimi and about what she just did that morning at the cafeteria. That was actually a fake apology. She wanted to come here and say her sincere apology.

Mr. Yoshizuki rose to his feet. "This scene should've been over five minutes ago."

"Look!" Erica pointed at Ken. The poor prince was covered with banana peels.

Mr. Yoshizuki almost fell on his bum laughing.

Erica shook her head. "Poor guy... he looks rather... demented?" Erica implied.

* * *

****

Intermission... 

When Ken's scene was finally over, the rest of the scene turned out very well without him. Now there was a ten-minute intermission break for everyone. The only scene left was the wedding scene of Cinderella and the prince.

Mimi took a long sip from her water bottle. She was tired. Even though the other scenes without Ken turned out quite well, she was really _not_ looking forward to do the next scene—the wedding scene. The last scene was actually the easiest scene of all... except the kissing part. She was definitely NOT looking forward to do a kissing scene with Ken! Sighing, she threw her water bottle at the other end of the room. Mimi hated this play now.

She looked at Erica who was sitting quietly on the other side, behaving herself. Mimi didn't go up there to talk to her. She didn't feel like talking to anyone anymore. She didn't want to. She didn't have to. But Erica was looking at her as if she wanted to just go over to her and talk to her. But she didn't dare.

Mimi looked at the clock. They only had five more minutes before they start the next part. She turned to Ken, who was so not feeling that good. Mimi quickly walked up to him and scowled at him.

"Hi... Mimi!" Ken tried his best to sound cheerful.

Mimi didn't answer. In her mind, she just wanted to slap Ken right there. But she didn't. Mr. Yoshizuki was sort of watching them. Ken didn't look that good. He still had some banana peels sticking out from the bottom of his shoe. He looked very... dirty?

__

This really really sucks! I can't believe that Matt didn't even show up at all! This is the worst! Mimi thought silently. She was about to say something when she heard somebody calling her name.

Turning to look, she saw him. He was struggling to catch his own breath. It was obvious that he had been running. He ran a hand through his spiky blonde hair and looked straight at Mimi. Mimi looked like she was about to cry in joy. Finally, he was back. It was about time! And he still had time to complete the last scene. Mimi couldn't even believe it. She couldn't believe that he was here. But that wasn't important now. He was here and that's what matters. Her heart pounded and she quickly ran up to Matt and threw herself in his arms.

"Oh Matt! You came after all!" Mimi exclaimed, holding him tightly. As she let go of him, she looked at him with tears in her eyes. "I... I really thought that you weren't gonna come... I was so worried..."

Matt gave her a long look before he said in a hush tone, "I don't wanna let my princess down tonight..." he told her in a silent voice.

Mimi could feel her face turning bright red. She didn't know how to respond to that. "Oh... Matt... I..." she stuttered.

"Look Mimi, I'm really sorry about everything," Matt cut her off. "I'm sorry about the bet. Sorry about the way I had yelled at you earlier... But just to let you know... I don't regret the fact when I kissed you on that night..."

"Huh?" Mimi looked rather stunned at what he was saying.

"I've been doing a lot of thinking lately, and I think I know what I really think of you," Matt implied.

Mimi lowered her gaze. Before she could say something, however, she heard some footsteps coming behind them.

"Matt! Thank goodness you showed up, Man!" it was Ken.

"Had enough fun?" Matt asked, placing a hand on his hip.

"It was horrible!" Ken answered.

Erica then walked up to Ken, Matt, and Mimi. "Glad you made it, Matt..." she looked at Ken. "Let me take care of this guy, okay?"

Mimi and Erica looked at each other for a while. For a moment there, Mimi had forgotten everything that Erica had done to her. Mimi smiled at Erica and gave her a hug. 

"Thank you, Erica," Mimi whispered.

They let go of each other and Erica smiled at Mimi. "You're a great Cinderella, Mimi. You did a wonderful job."

* * *

****

The Wedding Scene...

Mimi admired her costume. It was a very beautiful glowing white, almost silver, wedding dress. The dress was an exact replica of Cinderella's. Arm and arm, she glanced shyly at her prince. Matt looked good in his suit. Mimi looked at everyone else around her. She and Matt were on the top of a staircase. Below them, were the rest of the people, who were cheering on them. 

The newly wed couple slowly made their way down the red-carpeted staircase. Mimi Cinderella felt her shoe coming off her foot. She stopped and picked it up and put it back on. The couple continued down the stairs until they reached their horse-drawn carriage. Everyone cheered on them, even the audience. They could still see Matt and Mimi from the outside of the carriage. Through the window, they shared a kiss.

"I love you.... Cinde.... I love you, Mimi," Matt whispered to her.

Mimi looked up in shock. She was looking at Matt, staring at him just to see if she heard right. Studying his expression, she realized that he wasn't acting, and that he was actually serious. "I feel the same way, Matt." Mimi said to him.

And their lips met, but this time it was for real... 

"Yeah!" Tai cheered on top of his lungs. He rose to his feet to give them a standing ovation.

Sora smiled as well, clapping as well, and standing up. The rest of the audience then followed their example. The whole audience now gave them a standing ovation.

"Mimi, you're the greatest!" TK called out, holding the bouquet of flowers in his hand.

Behind TK was Izzy. "Very prodigious indeed!" he added as he was clapping his hands.

Tai stopped clapping and just watched as the curtain closed. He then felt Sora holding onto his arm. He turned to look and scratched his head. "They did a good job, don't you think?"

Sora nodded. 

"Yeah... I know you want me to apologize officially right?" Tai asked her. She didn't answer so Tai looked up the ceiling. "Yeah, well, I'm happy for them, because Matt looks like he really likes Mimi. I know he does, and I believe him for that."

"Will you be quiet already?" Sora suddenly said to him.

Tai frowned and looked at her. "Why? Is something—"

Before he could even finish, Sora leaned to him and gave him a quick kiss. She quickly pulled away, blushing.

"Wow, that was for me?" Tai blinked in surprised.

"Whatever! Come on! Let's just go backstage and meet up with them!" Sora quickly answered, running toward the front.

* * *

****

Backstage...

"Hi Mimi!" TK greeted. "You're the best, Mimi! And I love your dress!"

Mimi smiled at Matt's little brother and quickly gave him a small hug. "Thank you for watching me tonight, TK."

TK looked behind Mimi and noticed Matt walking to their direction. Looking back at Mimi, he quickly handed her the flowers. "Here sweet Mimi, these are for you, from me."

Mimi gasped, her eyes shining with excitement. "Oh wow! These are jasmines! I love jasmines! Thank you, TK!" She then buried her nose into the bouquet. It was obvious that she was really excited.

"You were a very good prince, Matt," TK told his brother. "Big bro, you're the best."

Matt blushed but tried not to appear embarrassed as he looked away from his brother. "Of course I'm the best!" he said, his hands on his hips.

"Oh look, there's Tai, Kari, and Sora!" Mimi pointed to the trio.

"Hey guys," Tai greeted as he approached them.

"We really thought that the whole play wouldn't turn out," Sora said. "I'm just glad you made it, Matt. That Ken guy sure knows how to mess up.... the whole audience had gone insane when he was around."

"But you guys were great! You two are so cute together," Kari added.

Tai scratched his head and revealed a purse to Mimi. "Here Mimi... I think this is yours. I found it when I was in Chem class. Ken had it." He hesitated, and said in a low tone, "Look... uh, I'm really sorry about... you know, the bet and everything... and Matt..." he looked at Matt and at the ground again. "...sorry about everything I said... and well, the bet too, I guess."

Mimi eyed Tai for a while and then smiled. "Don't worry, Tai. I'm glad you and Matt made that bet..." Tai looked puzzled at first and then for a moment he knew what she meant. Mimi then took the purse from Tai and gave him a puzzled look. "I've been looking for this. What do you mean Ken had it?"

"It seemed that he found a way to snatch it somewhere," Sora replied. "I don't know how though."

"Mimi left it in the cafeteria," a voice behind them said.

They all turned to look and found Joe and Izzy.

"Joe! Izzy!" Mimi exclaimed with a smile. She felt very glad that her friends were watching the play.

Joe and Izzy then came up to them. "Ken had probably found Mimi's purse from the cafeteria. I'm sorry, Mimi. I forgot that you left your bag there. I could've just told you earlier... I guess I forgot..."

They all laughed at what he said.

"Oh yeah," Sora suddenly said. She then buried her hand in her pocket and took out a shiny silver harmonica. She walked up to Matt and handed it to him. "I think you're looking for this."

Matt looked at his harmonica. Finally. "Thank you, Sora."

"I don't know how, but it was in Mimi's purse too," Sora told him.

"Of course, Ken must've put it in Mimi's purse," Tai said.

"Stupendous! I'm glad the whole play was a success." Izzy implied. He indicated for the door and they all saw a huge mob of people trying to get in. It was a big lineup. "I really think that the audience wants your guys's autographs." 

Tai turned to Matt. "The girls just WANT Matt's autograph." He corrected.

Matt smiled and put an arm around Mimi. He already got a girl with him so what's up with the fans? "Sorry girls... No autographs, please..."

* * *

****

Meanwhile...

"I hate that Ishida!" Ken yelled.

"Man, you look pretty cute when you're mad," Erica giggled.

"R-really? Do I?" Ken asked, his anger dissipating. He and Erica were just outside at the front of the school. They've been there ever since Matt came back.

"Sure, I didn't really know that you look a lot like Matt. But I really do think you're way cuter than him." Erica said to him.

"Wow, you really mean that?" Ken replied, grabbing Erica's hands, and kneeling down in front of her. "Do YOU really mean that, sweet Erica?"

Erica slowly nodded. "Uh, sure..." she then pulled away from his grasps. "Just please act like a prince for one second, okay?"

"Man, I just wish that I could be someone's prince," Ken told her. "It's not fair. I should've been the prince."

"Well, you could pretend to be one," Erica suggested. "You weren't meant to be Mimi's prince, I guess. Perhaps there is another girl who needs a prince too."

"Yeah, but who?" Ken asked. 

Erica just shrugged and didn't answer. There was a moment of silence. Then Ken suddenly glanced over at Erica. He blushed when he found that she was also looking at him.

"Oh Erica, please! Won't you let me be your prince too?" Ken pleaded.

Erica smiled at him. He did seem kind of cute too. "Sure... my handsome prince..."

* * *

**__**

The End!

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Whew! Finally done! Again, thanks to Orange Flower Faerie for helping me out. And I would like to dedicate that tiny Taiora part to Funkiechick, who's probably the number one Tai/Sora fan. I don't know if the ending is THAT good. And I'm still debating whether to write a sequel for this or not. It depends how it goes. Thank you for reading this far! Thank you for reading this fanfic. Hope you liked my first Digimon fan-fic. It was pretty fun writing this fic. Oh and I hope that I didn't confuse any of you guys.

   [1]: mailto:mimiblossomsmt@yahoo.com
   [2]: mailto:orangeflowerfae@aol.com



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